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mickeys-malarkey · 2 years

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Pt. 3/3: My BATDR Timeline & Plot Twist Theories!

First, I think both BATIM and BATDR take place sometime between 1978 and 1991. I already suspected BATDR was happening in the ‘80s based on the fact that card readers – which have featured in many of the environment screenshots we've seen – were invented in 1979...

…and Audrey's clothes and hairstyle look very 1980s.

Then they released the images of Audrey's office, where her chair and desk lamps also look very 1980s, and the wallpaper and flooring looks pretty 1970s…

…and @inkdemonapologist pointed out that the type of bankruptcy we see documents for in Joey's apartment didn't exist until 1978…

…and I remembered that Joey's apartment also had a newspaper whose headline took place in the future— Princess Diana's 30th birthday which, as TetraBitGaming on YouTube pointed out, would be in 1991 since Princess Diana was born in 1961. She should be two years old if BATIM were really taking place in 1963!

Maybe, at the time, they didn't mean for these two to be clues, since they seem to have rolled the date backwards a bit from the newspaper one; but at this point it feels pretty clear when BATDR takes place, to me. And I'm even more certain than I already was, after finding out that this image from the JDS website…

…is titled “museum” (good work yoinking it, @halfusek /gen 👍🏻), that we know the ink dimension's new home: Nathan Arch Sr.'s private Joey Drew Studios museum that he mentioned he was curating in TIOL (meaning it's existed since around 1972).

“Over the years, I have collected every single piece of the studio memorabilia I could find to restore it to its former glory, to create, in a sense, a private museum that gleamed with the true vision of Joey Drew…” ~ Nathan Arch, The Illusion of Living, pg. 2

Also, besides the fact the museum image has clearly aged, here's some more evidence that at least a few years have probably passed since Bendy was purchased: it generally takes a fair bit more time (years!!) to make movies/documentaries, as Archgate Pictures seems to have made about Joey, than it does to make shorts.

As for BATIM, I think that time has been moving as normal outside of the loop, we were just seeing a repeat of that significant day in 1963; Henry and Joey have been trapped in the ink dimension for somewhere between twenty and thirty years, and the bankruptcy paperwork and Princess Diana newspaper were pieces of the real world leaking into the memory. This explains how there seems to be evidence of Audrey in BATIM and how BATDR is still supposedly neither sequel nor prequel to BATIM despite all the evidence that it takes place long after 1963! They're happening at the same time!! I wonder if Audrey is the daughter of the little girl we hear at the end of BATIM? So, Henry's (great-)granddaughter or Joey's (great-)great-niece?

Now, onto my big theory: the plot twist.

If they handle it right, it would be really, really cool if “break the cycle” really doesn't just mean “end the time loop” but also “break the cycle of abuse/trauma” and a lot of the huge cast of not-so-innocent characters wind up with the potential to get redemption arcs. I have an idea of exactly how they might be planning on even providing the opportunity for Joey.

Victor McKnight commented this on his Artistic Hallowing music video and pinned it:

Those last two sentences. “Make sure you're watching every second! You don't want to miss any vital information. 😉” Does that not sound to anyone else like he's got insider information? Now, I want y'all to watch these music videos that either Victor himself or his brother Noah were suspiciously involved in all of (and one of which is supposedly a BATDS song but for some reason involves Audrey) and tell me if you notice any patterns.

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This one seems to be a duet between Sammy and the Ink Demon, both singing to Audrey. Sammy mostly sings in the default sepiatone, asking us things like “Can you see me? Can you feel me?” (that feels so… sad… and desperate…) and telling us things like “make sense of the consequence we witnessed on that day” (Excuse me, you're telling me that there was a consequence for something on a specific, significant day that we witnessed?? 👀) The demon, on the other hand, mostly sings when the grayscale effect is on, and seems to just be playing a stereotypical villain roll until you notice “be forced to believe what I see” (why would we even give a crap about what you're seeing /srs? How the actual heck would we see what you're seeing /gen? You don't even have eyeballs, bro /j) and “be damned in this evil received” (how do you receive evil that damns you? Maybe by being abused and becoming an abuser in response?).

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Two apparently-separate characters singing with the same voice but very different tones and outlooks on the situation, still both singing to Audrey, in this one. One mostly sings in the default sepiatone, again, at first seeming more hopeful, helpful, and friendly until you start noticing ominous comments like “you've made mistakes, accept the change. You will be punished too” (*incoherent noises* 🚨🚨) and “welcome to my dream . . . you still think you are safe in my dream.” The other mostly sings when the grayscale effect is on, again, and seems much more aggressive and seductive until you start noticing comments like “take up your weapons, just leave my friends be” (why is this stereotypically evil-seeming character both telling us to take up weapons, not just letting us have them, and asking us to leave his friends alone with them?).

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More hints that the demon who will rise and presumably is most important to the story is linked to grayscale, in this one.

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And, in this one, Sammy's asking if the grayscale-linked demon is the one who will set him free (as he claims to be in the first two videos).

Across all four of these first videos, there seems to be an overall “things change when we switch from the default sepiatone to grayscale” and “grayscale is dangerous and seems hopeless but it's important and linked to truth and freedom” theme…

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…You're telling me that Sammy and his followers' past (BATIM?) selves were worshipping an imposter demon…? And the truth will be revealed in BATDR…?

Hum, hum, hum… fascinating. I'd noticed the sepiatone vs. grayscale split and imposter vs. true savior thing long before I read the books; for the longest time, I thought it meant we would be dealing with a Henry-Bendy and a Joey-Bendy, as I've been seeing people theorizing. But then I read TIOL, and discovered what I think is evidence that this info is indeed canon and was not left on the cutting room floor while BATDR was in development limbo.

Nathan makes a very strange note on Joey's story about the Sparkle Unicorn speakeasy…

“…I remember this night well. Though I remember it being at the Bee Room, gold and black, not silver as the main design aesthetic. Doesn't really make much of a difference though, I suppose.” ~ Nathan Arch, The Illusion of Living, pg. 44 (emphasis added)

Nathan remembers that night in sepiatone, Joey remembers it in grayscale.

Now, I've seen all kinds of theories all over about how Wilson actually “banished/killed the ink demon…” “Wilson took advantage of some sort of blip in Bendy's existence that happened when Joey died,” “Wilson got rid of him by purifying him and turning him into Dapper Bendy,” “Wilson got rid of him by fusing him with either Henry or Joey,” “Wilson got rid of him by trapping him in Henry's loop,” “he didn't, Wilson's just another liar manipulating everyone,” etc…

What if we're looking at this from the wrong angle? What if the point is that, whatever happened, neither of the BATDR Bendys is the original soulless monster we see in BATIM and the books? What if, whether they share a body or are separate, there are two human souls involved here? What if one of those souls is the “new evil” in the ink dimension, not Wilson, who may have been meddling in ink dimension affairs since 1963?

Going back to the time frame I propose BATDR is happening in… Joey was born in 1901, which means that if Nathan was 18 or 19 when Joey was just turning 16, then he was born in 1899 or 1898. So, in 1978, Nathan would've been 79 or 80, and in 1991 he would've been 92 or 93. Especially considering the clues that point towards Nathan having been a smoker, it wouldn't surprise me if he's straight-up already dead in BATDR. Mayhaps for 211 days? During Loop 414…? Could this be why the BATIM loop is different, with Henry apparently not remembering anything that previous versions of himself could? The now-previous owner of their prison has died of old age and/or lung cancer? And could that be why the JDS museum has fallen into bankruptcy? Has Nathan Jr. taken over and isn't as ruthless a businessman as his father?

Itsjustjord on YouTube pointed this out in his trailer reaction, which when he said it set my Clue Radar off so that I went to the trailer again to get a closer look. And… well… *clears throat*

…Do y'all see this weird effect over Dapper Bendy? Compared to every other character we see in the trailer as well as the environment around him, does it not look as if we're seeing him, specifically, through some sort of cartoony filter? Maybe it'll only be in circumstances like this (far away in weird lighting) that the edges of the illusion will fray in-game, based on the other teaser image we have of him, but it definitely looks off to me.

Especially with what I now suspect Allison and Susie's situations were in relation to Nathan, I think that the ink creatures’ perfection vs. imperfection has nothing to do with how pure/good vs. impure/evil their hearts are as we've been lead to believe/is the conventional surface-level reading, but instead how intact vs. broken their hearts are. I think that the more horrific the ink being's appearance, the more the soul inside was abused while it was alive. Allison isn't a perfect Alice because she's a better person, it's because she obeyed Nathan and wasn't made to suffer as severely as Susie, who Nathan chose to be his next Isabel. So, why is one new Bendy (apparently created after Joey lost everything, I suspect even being made to watch his Shoulder Angel's murder before being murdered himself) so much scarier than the original (created before Joey lost everything) and the other so goshdarn perfect, proportions and all?

Maybe the banning of everything related to Sammy's demon cult and Henry under Wilson's rule has to do with his decades-old mission to keep the Creators from joining forces, as well as everyone including himself feeling like they're finally free from The Great Puppet Master?

I love Dapper Bendy's design as much as everyone else!! He's positively adorable, and it would also be a nice outcome if the baby boy is exactly what he seems and just a precious lil friend to love forever; but I theorize that Dapper Bendy is the perfectly sane, untraumatized, and truly evil one, that (assuming we actually get choices in BATDR, unlike in BATIM) his route, no matter how things seem in the moment, is the wrong one, that he's Nathan. And I think Freaky Teeth Bendy (that's been my nickname for him since we first saw him and I'm sticking to it lolol) is the damaged as heck but able to be saved one, that his route is the correct one, that he's Joey. I also think that we won't get to see either demon for what they really are – won't be able to get the True, Broken Cycle, “Joey's Redeemed & Nathan Faces Justice” Ending – unless we somehow unlock Grayscale Mode like we could in BATIM and gain the ability to see Joey's truth. Until then, we'll be seeing the demons the way Nathan wants us to see them. Through Nathan's tainted, gaslighting, sepiatone filter.

If I'm right, the fact that they did choose these color palettes is so perfectly poetic~! Sepiatone is what happens when black-and-white images have been chemically altered for preservation purposes; Nathan's altered our perception of himself, Joey, and all the events surrounding them, and his version of events is much more resilient. Meanwhile, Joey's would be more pure and unaltered but easily destroyed— including by himself, with his Illusion of Living coping mechanism… The only thing that could make it more perfect is if not only do we get to see Henry in BATDR, but when we do he's an angelic toon… *Vibrates with excitement*

Please, please, please, JDS, let me be right about where you're going with this!! Cause this would genuinely be so freaking cool…!! 🙏🏻 I hope that we eventually get to “rejoice with our founders,” as Artistic Hallowing says, when they're reunited.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk, rofl. Congratulations on making it through the ramblings of a hyped AuDHD fangirl (though, I guess we already knew you were capable, if you've read TIOL. I could do a whole nother rant on evidence that Joey's basically confirmed canonically ADHD(+?), my freaking gosh). 😝

Read the Rest of the Original Analysis/Theory: Part One • Part Two • Unexpected Part Four

BATDR Analysis/Post-Playthrough Theory Revision: Part One • Part Two • Part Three • Part Four

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oonaluna-art · 1 year

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[First] [Previous (pt 48)] [Here (pt 49)] [Next (p50)]

Something that I really liked about Luke, which I feel wasn’t present in the Sequel Trilogy, was that he would risk everything to do what’s right. One of his first major actions as a character is risking his life to save his sister, who at the time was a girl he hadn’t met. I wanted to use some of that character aspect in this fic, so I decided Luke would come and rescue Leia first.

I’m back. While I didn’t plan to be gone as long, I think I needed a break from consistent uploading. Fun fact! This has been queued to post on my birthday! June 16, babey!

As much as I tease that the story is going into the final arc, this final arc is going to be pretty long. I still don’t have an estimate as to when the comic will be finished.

Resources:

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[This story on AO3] [My Ko-Fi] [Patreon]

#our new hope #oonaluna #oonaluna 2023 #galek marek #starkiller #stormtrooper #leia organa #luke skywalker #mara jade #skywalker family #star wars #starwars #fanfic #fanfiction #oonaluna art #mustafar

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thegoldenhoof · 7 months

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Poison into Positivity - Why we should have revisited The Talent Show.

Prefacing this, that as a Izzy lover, I loved the Calypso’s birthday episode. Perfect. No notes. Except that maybe it should have been longer

But boy did Ed get done dirty in that episode (and Stede but I am making my peace with this is just who Stede is. Being a better person was never his character’s motivation).

Perhaps nothing has bothered me about the whole of Ed’s arc as the poison to positivity comment because, Girl! Where? What exactly did you do to earn that? Ed threw some money at the problem and sat back which made sense in a sad way because it is a very Stede way of doing things. At least Season 1 Stede ( but again we are not talking about Stede here). And Ed was following his cues. This is Youtuber apology the sequel.

But in contrast, imagine if we had gotten The Talent Show- Take 2

A repeated problem that many posts have talked about in this season is that it was unwilling to face the trauma that it set up and look it in the eye and deal with it. So much of the show had become “shit happens move on”.

But revisiting the idea of The Talent Show for Calypso’s Birthday party would have been amazing imo and here is why…

The Chekhov's gun was already set up with Lucius mentioning it in the previous episode

This season had been spoonfeeding us Season 1 flashbacks and references and this would have fit in perfectly with the pattern.

Ed’s side of it was as set up with him not remembering the show at all. We have been told repeatedly that Ed rewrites his memories/forgets things that are uncomfortable to him.

Repraising the talent show would have worked as a shorthand for Ed actually confronting his past and would have been an opportunity to genuinely make himself vulnerable in contrast to the youtuber apology.

It would have reminded the crew that this was still the man who they cared for at one point, who just did some fucked up shit because he was hurting.

It would have shown the audience that the crew was able to look at a painful past experience and rewrite those memories with a better version if it- a stand-in for them moving past the trauma of the Kraken era and being willing to rewrite those memories with this new Ed.

Izzy could have joined Ed’s song putting it in contrast with Izzy’s anger and confusion of Season 1.

Ed is singing some old song. He hears the uneven stomp of the peg leg behind him and stops. Cue bad memories.

Izzy’s voice takes up the song. He turns back to look at Izzy and he is revealed to us, in all his Drag glory, looking equally nervous until they both give a tentative smile and continue with the song.

Ed turns to Stede pulling him into a dance. Izzy turns to Calypso kissing her hand. They are singing the same song but the have their own people to dance with now.

a) This would have given us a peek into their joint past, a happier time and laid a foundation to the relationship they are hinting at in the death scene with Ed’s “You are my only family” because we haven’t actually seen that relationship between them in either of the seasons.

b) It would have given us a transition between the earlier drunk Izzy-avoidant Ed scene and the absolute tonal whiplash of the next day morning after scene by having an on screen truce/resolution.

c) It would have shows them as two people on diverse paths who are even now still tied by their past. They too are trying to rewrite what that past should mean now with hopefully better associations.

This means we lose La vie en Rose the, I’d make that sacrifice for some actual character growth. (We could still have had that performance over the end titles/longer post credit maybe?)

8. This would actually fit in with the message of turning poison into positivity for both Ed and the crew and Ed and Izzy. It would also have had Ed make an emotional investment in that transition and not a monetary one so he has actually earned that comment.

9. It would have made Ned’s interruption much more painful because Ed is trying to make amends for something he did here and another consequence of his actions have come crashing in.

Cue Stede killing Ned but now it doubles down on the “You don’t have to do this alone. I’m here beside you helping you (however badly) too” message.

Overall…

The larger events of the episode don’t change.

Just a few dialogues here and there and maybe trim the Ed giving money to the kids scene (Because what? Why? I dont care u gave them a knife. Those kids are getting murdered within a couple of days. Good job Ed!).

So little changes. And yet there was so much potential for shifting the tone and not putting all their eggs into the one basket that they were planning to smash with a hammer.

#ofmd #ed teach #blackbeard #izzy hands #calypso’s birthday #ofmd critical?

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meimi-haneoka · 1 year

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Report of CLAMP’s Twitter Space ~ May 5th, 2023 (part concerning Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card)

On May 5th, CLAMP opened two Twitter Spaces, one as a late celebration of Ohkawa's birthday and one as an "afterparty", dedicating this second one both to the Holic stage play and Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card. Actually, the mentions of Sakura-related stuff started already in the first Space, so I'm going to write the report starting from that one!

The first mention of anything CCS related is past halfway the first Space, when a question from a fan prompted CLAMP to talk about their current favorite Sakura costumes! (It seems one of them - I think it was Mokona - was about to speak about a certain costume and Ohkawa interrupted her, laughing: "That's too soon!! That's a spoiler! 😂" what a tease!) For Satsuki, her favorite costume is the classic cat one with the apron, from Clow Card Arc (side note, it seems she still had a strained back and that's also the reason why they couldn't celebrate with a Space on the actual day of Ohkawa's birthday), while for Nekoi it's the costume with shorts and diamond shapes all over it from the Clow Card Arc (when she had to sneak into a museum). For Mokona it's the bat-themed coat she had designed for the manga chapter (Sakura Card Arc) when Sakura went out with a fever, and she wore over her pajama this coat Tomoyo made her to keep her warm. Lastly, for Ohkawa it's the costume from volume 3 / the Clear Card anime OP, even though she knows it's one of the most complex ones (but she loves that it mixes both cuteness and a more mature vibe)! If she had to choose a simpler one, then it would be the classic Clow Card anime OP! Mokona also mentioned the fan favorite frog costume from Clear Card Arc, which it seems got a very slight criticism by Ohkawa because it looked too "childish", but Mokona was glad that in the end they used it anyway. Ohkawa actually explained that what she meant was more how it looked too "simple" and more reminiscing of a raincoat than a proper costume. And this is when the first interesting info comes!

A fan indicated the costume of chapter 36/37 of Clear Card as one of their favorite, and Ohkawa confirmed that they got a lot of praises for that....and then...

Ohkawa: This will become slightly spoilerish, but there is actually a reason why Sakura didn't wear (officially) this costume yet! 😉 Please stay tuned!

A few minutes later, a fan asked Ohkawa about what is usually “the driving force” that pushes her forward when she’s writing her stories. Ohkawa replied: “The end. The end is what’s most important to me. Even in Clear Card Arc’s case, the only reason why I’m doing it is because of the finale, that I decided right away and came to me like a spark. When that doesn’t happen, I get bored halfway through. To be honest, with Clear Card Arc it’s not even exactly the finale. There’s a certain event I wanted to write for it at all costs. If it wasn’t for that, I would’ve never given the OK to restart ‘CCSakura’ once again.” Nekoi: “So for the sake of the end, the story spun on itself and started once again.”

Another fan asked right after if there was any highlight they are looking forward to for the sequel of the Clear Card anime, and here CLAMP confirmed that the cast of voice actors will of course be the same! So they said that’s certainly a highlight. They also mentioned how the peak of the story will come all in the part that’s going to be portrayed in the anime from now on, so all of that is another highlight in itself. Ohkawa looks forward to hear Sakura Tange as Sakura once again. Then, talking about the source material for a moment: Ohkawa: “It took a long time, and we’ve been told that the story is kinda boring, but please trust me. They tell me I take long time to reveal all the “tricks” beneath the story but there’s a reason for that. Just wait a little more~ 😊”

Mokona mentioned that she personally looks forward to see how the director (Asaka, I guess) will portray the world inside the book where the kids go to halfway though the play (She’s talking about Clockland, of course 😊). They also wondered how they will portray the Mirror Card and the important role she will have in the later part of the story, Ohkawa in particular said Mirror has always been a very special Card (it’s one of the only 3 who can speak).

This is the content for the first Space! Only a few minutes later, CLAMP opened one more Space to focus on the Holic stage play and to talk about Sakura. Skipping to the Sakura content, a fan asked if Meiling is going to appear in the sequel of the Clear Card anime, since they liked her relationship with Syaoran, particularly the scene where they fought together. Ohkawa: “She won’t probably join a battle, but of course she’s going to appear!” (everyone clapped their hands) Mokona: “The funny thing is, when we started working on the Clear Card manga, I was wondering why Meiling didn’t appear...and then I remembered she was an anime-only character!!😂I had my memories messed up!”

Following that, Ohkawa announced something we were all hoping for as if it were nothing of importance 😂 Ohkawa: “This is something no one cares about, and I know they haven’t announced it for the new anime adaptation yet, but the script writer will be me, Nanase Ohkawa” (everyone clapped) Ohkawa: “It’s really nothing important” Mokona: “It is, instead! Thank you very much!” Mokona: “You’ll be working again with that director…” Ohkawa: “Yep, it’s real. I said I would’ve never written any more anime scripts, all on my own…” Mokona: “But since we’re rooting for you…! 😂” Ohkawa: “I’m saying this just to laugh a bit, but when I write the anime scripts, I enter my ‘nursing care mode’, I just can’t do anything else, I’ll be causing lots of trouble to the other CLAMP members who will have to take care of me...I’ll have to do this job alone, it’s a solo trip! 😅” Mokona: “The Costume design…” Ohkawa: “That’s going to be yours, who else? (to the audience) Mokona-san is going to be in charge of that.”

SO we got three important confirmations (+ the seiyuu cast one in the first Space) for the new anime sequel in the matter of a few minutes!! 😂And all of them are “spoilers”, meaning that none of this has been announced through official channels 😂But they were pretty expected...Ohkawa later in the Space said that she’s perfectly aware that Kodansha will probably get mad at her later for doing that! She said “They’re going to kick my as* right after Golden Week….but it’s okay!” 😆

After this, CLAMP were kind enough to read my message of deep appreciation for the story (Mokona said she wants to go to Italy! I wish conventions planners in Italy could take the hint…! 😂), and Ohkawa made me laugh as usual with her comments about Kaito:

Ohkawa: “This person...doesn’t think something like ‘come on, grow a pair and do the right thing!!’ towards Kaito?” Mokona: “Ah, I think it’s because she actually loves him a lot, at least that’s what it looks like! 😁” Ohkawa: “I see, I’m really grateful then 😁” Mokona: “Kaito-san should really stop messing around, though 😆”

Mokona then remembered that back when the old Sakura anime was airing, they had 2 manga serializations + the anime series to work on at the same time, and her blunt comment was “it was hell, back then”. Ohkawa: “I’m sure there are people out there who would’ve wanted somebody else as scriptwriter...sorry about that, but it’s going to be me! 😅 Actually, I haven’t even asked permission to anyone to announce these things, after all, isn’t it taken for granted at this point? Only me can do it” Mokona: “You’ve been doing this since the beginning, after all”

Ohkawa explained that there are several not-so-small differences between the anime and manga storylines, so the fact that she’s the only one writing the scripts makes everything simpler. She brought up a thing that many fans are interested in, the fact that Nadeshiko’s pendant watch from the manga is actually a key in the anime. If somebody else were to take over at this point, they wouldn’t know how to deal with that difference, because they wouldn’t know why the change was made in the first place. But since Ohkawa is taking care of it, it’s all right! Mokona said that she’s really curious to know what’s going on with Nadeshiko’s key in the anime, and what would be the developments from that. Ohkawa: “You have to trust Sakura-chan for that, not me!” Mokona: “But I believe in your storytelling skills! 😆”

Mokona then said that since the anime and manga storylines end up mixing up in her head, she’s refraining from watching the anime till everything is over. She brought up the example of Meiling of earlier on, and Ohkawa took the chance to express how wonderful the anime adaptation is and how much Meiling is loved by the fans, despite not being present in the manga.

Surprisingly enough, they also mentioned how fastly the season changed in the latest part of the story, jumping suddenly to winter. Satsuki pointed out that for most of the story the season didn’t change at all, and that the seasons actually reflect the situation of the story. When Satsuki said that, I realized it’s really true. And thanks to this comment, I think I might have understood even better why there’s a swallow coming to little wintery Kaito in the color page of chapter 62. Swallows announce the spring, after all… A fan asked a question about the handwritten text that appears in Cardcaptor Sakura, whether it’s Mokona’s real handwriting or it was created that way specifically for the manga (particularly, some kana have a little swirl that makes them cuter). Mokona confirmed that it was created specifically for the manga: in the old series she used to make it more round and cuter, but for Clear Card Arc she realized that a text like that impaired the readability, so she used more straight lines (though in the comedy parts she still tried to make it more rounded, but she admitted that there aren’t that many comedy parts in Clear Card 😅). Another fan sent a message saying they really love Lilie and would like to live with a person like her and Ohkawa was really curious to know what kind of person they thought she is, and what it is they like about her. Mokona: “Maybe she likes her assertiveness, which is very reminiscing of Akiho.”

That was for CLAMP an opportunity to talk about magicians in CLAMP world and how strong magic can distort their personality quite a bit! Mokona wondered if even Lilie is affected by this peculiarity in CLAMP world, since it is a thing (she remembered Momo talked about it in the manga), and in the end they decided to not reveal clearly whether her personality is distorted or not to not spoil the volume-only readers, because it became clear only in the chapter published last month, but invited them to guess the correct answer with a hint: “She became Nadeshiko’s friend, after all”. 😁 They also said that Lilie’s “pushy” nature is an interesting and nice trait of her. That lead CLAMP to make a list of their characters who are considered magicians:

Clow Reed – Yuuko – Fay – Syaoran (CCS) – Yuna D. Kaito – Sakura Kinomoto – Watanuki

and those who haven’t their personality “messed up” are Sakura, Syaoran, Watanuki (they say he’s on the edge, though 😆) and Ohkawa was surprised to find out that it’s almost half of them! Mokona also mentioned King Ashura from Celes country, but Ohkawa reminded her that his powers had severely messed up his personality. Then someone reminded them of Fei Wang, and of course he’s one whose personality was distorted greatly by magic, Mokona commented that the distortion went as far as it could go with him 😅

Ohkawa went further with the topic, telling a fun trivia about powerful magicians with distorted personality. She established that all people with very strong magic powers bear a burden on themselves. Supposed someone were to ask them to act properly in a situation without messing around, they’re people who don’t understand how to do that. They end up thinking 'what a bother, though'. Some of them, among that confusion, make up their own rules and become people like Clow Reed. Others just keep thinking 'it’s a bother, just a bother' and eventually end up thinking 'I don’t give a damn about it': those are the people like Fay or Yuna D. Kaito. 😆

Ohkawa: “Those two had a completely different life, though. Because Kaito had Akiho. So I guess for him it’s a bit different. But if someone were to tell him ‘You, sit down there’ he’d be like ‘Damn, I don’t want to sit down, I want to go back home’. Kaito wouldn’t just ‘sit down’. 😆Fay neither!” Mokona: “Those two are really similar” Ohkawa: “Yet they’ve lead a completely different life. My bad, but in my story Kaito became all ‘what a bore this, what a bore that’ 😅” Mokona: “I guess that can’t be helped for him, because he was severely abused and faced very rough life situations” Ohkawa: “Yeah, that’s right” Mokona: “Fay had Sakura-hime with him, so I wish those parts of him could be tamed for what it’s possible, much like it happened for Kaito with Akiho” Ohkawa: “That would be good, although I don’t know if those parts can ever settle down 😅” Mokona: “Yeah, after all, no one knows what goes through the minds of those magicians 😆”

A fan pointed out that Seishirou could be also included in the list of magicians, but Ohkawa explained he’s more of a shaman than an actual magician and those two shouldn’t be mixed up. It seems the kind of magic they summon is different.

The Space was supposed to end, but then Ohkawa had the sudden idea to ask her colleagues what’s the Card (from any arc) they would want to use the most! For Mokona it’s Fly or Flight (because she’d like to fly like a drone to somewhere, at least once 😆), for Ohkawa it’s Mirror from Clow Card Arc (because she always wanted to have a twin!! No one realized that, sensei), for Satsuki is Create and for Nekoi it’s Lucid (because she’d want to hide in uncomfortable moments 😆).

CLAMP also ended up mentioning, in their chat about the Cards, that it’s sad the Flight Card disappeared, due to its closeness to Sakura and the fact that it’s almost as if this Card had feelings of its own, even more than the old Fly Card.

Ohkawa, throughout the Space, reiterated her request to the fans to keep reading Clear Card’s story till the very end, even if right now they’re thinking ‘I would’ve wanted it to be more like this, instead’ or ‘This isn’t the kind of story I like’. She said in an earlier part of the Space that she’s aware there might be some parts difficult to understand, but that this is at the very core Sakura’s story. For her, as Cardcaptor Sakura’s writer, what makes Sakura the protagonist of this story is the fact that she’s the one deciding what to do within the story. That’s what a main character is for her, even when the “camera” of the storytelling is aiming at someone who’s not the protagonist. She talked to the volume-only readers, saying “If you keep reading and see what Sakura has decided in the next volume, I think you’ll realize just how much she’s grown up”. Mokona agreed, saying that Sakura has always chosen for herself, even in the past arcs.

Ohkawa: “In Cardcaptor Sakura’s story, Sakura always chooses how to take action, so I think it’s ok for me to variate a little bit what kind of main character she’s going to be. My partners Mokona, Nekoi and Sacchan are drawing this story with lots of care, so I’d like for you to keep reading it. Right now volume 14 is out, and when you’ll read it, I’m sure many of you will think ‘Kaito, you…!!! 💢’ 😂” Mokona: “They’re going to feel the same way Momo is feeling 😂”

And here sensei switched to another very important topic.

Ohkawa: “Apparently, the translation abroad is completely different” Mokona: “I guess it’s very difficult to convey the right meaning of some complex words” Ohkawa: “I’ve been told once ‘I just can’t translate it like this’ by the person who’s in charge of the translation. I think it’s great that they still want to try their best with a script like this one.” Ohkawa: “It’s just, you know...I can’t ask people who don’t understand Japanese to read it in our language. Therefore, I’m really grateful that they’re uploading those versions on Youtube, despite the translation being different. Especially with CCSakura right now, if the translation is different, it will end up conveying a different meaning (to the story) 😅(note: her tone right now suggests she’s uncomfortable about this) But still, I’m grateful they’re delivering the chapters to the whole world.” “I’m aware there’s someone (else) who’s writing blog posts about the translation because they feel uncomfortable about those differences, and if you can just look at those, I think it’s already enough. For example, something that really surprised me is how the word わからずや (wakarazuya) cannot be translated properly. (note: she’s referring to the ‘insult’ Momo yells after Kaito before he’s engulfed by the book at the end of chapter 70, and that Lilie mutters in chapter 72). It seems like there isn’t a word to express it. This is really a subtlety, though… There seem to be many words that aren’t perfectly translatable into English. Like 頑張れ！(ganbare!)” Satsuki: “よろしく (yoroshiku) too.” Ohkawa: “That’s right. Or 仕事 (shigoto).” Mokona: “Since the culture is different too, they have to look for a word that’s got the closest meaning to that one.” Ohkawa: “I think the people in charge are really doing their best, but when I’ve heard of (how they translated that word), I didn’t really feel good about it.” (Mokona: “yes, it’s true”). Mokona: “Even the official translation can be wrong! It’s totally understandable” Ohkawa: “I know. I guess translating わからずや is really difficult, but I think you’ll still able to understand it if you consider the feelings of that character in that moment.” Nekoi: “It's more like ‘blockhead’ ” Ohkawa: “When re-translating the word they chose back (in our language), I felt like it got translated into something closer to 馬鹿 (baka).” (note: the ENG used "dolt" which indeed got more of a "stupid" nuance) Mokona: “Ah, that’s not what she meant…” Ohkawa: “And to us, 馬鹿 means something completely different”. (Mokona agrees)

Ohkawa: “Even so, I think it’s still worth uploading the chapters officially on Youtube, so please keep checking them out. At the same time, I’m really grateful to those who point out where (the translation) got it wrong.” Mokona: “There’s really a language barrier!” Ohkawa continued saying that she’s often told by translators that it’s difficult to understand what’s the subject (of a sentence) in her writing. She brought as an example how, to this day, Yue still doesn’t have a personal pronoun he uses to refer to himself, so that makes difficult to establish the subject when he talks. Mokona wondered how the translations abroad are dealing with translating how non-human characters are referring to themselves, when in Japanese they don’t use pronouns such as “ore” or “watashi”. Ohkawa guessed that probably in foreign languages it doesn’t really matter. Despite being really grateful to all the people who are translating her work with care, she expressed lots of interest on this topic and would also like to talk to them freely about this matter, because it’s true that there are parts that are translated differently (note: or wrong, the word used can indicate both).

She extended her gratitude also to people who give their comments and impressions about every single chapter, reading them on Nakayoshi or Youtube, even when those comments are really harsh towards them and their work. Ohkawa: “I’m also very grateful to those who tackle the translation differences every month, saying things like ‘This is not right’ or ‘This is not what they’re actually saying!’” Mokona: “We could call it ‘collective knowledge’, or rather, we could really say this world is built by what everyone is saying, in a collective effort” Ohkawa: “It’s my fault, but since Momo’s wording is a bit difficult to translate, she might have been misunderstood (abroad).”

Changing topic slightly, but always staying in the CCSakura area, Ohkawa reiterated how this is Sakura’s story, and she would like us to read it till the end to witness how Sakura figured out what she can do for someone she’s just met (like Akiho), coming from a position of someone who’s always been protected and guarded by other people till now. She wants us to see how much she’s grown up going through that process. Ohkawa: “Mokona praised a lot the conversation between Sakura and Akiho in the script I’ve written for the latest chapter, which hasn’t been published into volume format yet, so I can’t say much about it…. All four of us are taking good care of portraying properly how both Sakura and Akiho will do what they can, each in their own way, so I really want you to see it.”

While repeating the fact that Ohkawa will be the one writing the scripts for the sequel of the anime, Mokona commented that she really doesn’t think anyone but her can do it. Ohkawa said “I know this myself, but if you’ll end up saying 'This is not ‘Sakura’!' because of the direction it’ll take in the future, well...sorry about that”. She saw some fans commenting in the hashtag that they were happy and relieved that she’s at the script writing again, and Mokona said the same. She was very grateful.

Ohkawa: “Sakura-chan will always be the same Sakura-chan (you’ve known till now). Cardcaptor Sakura is the story of the main character Sakura who will choose for herself what to do within the story.” Mokona: “Please watch carefully Sakura’s choice ❤️”. Ohkawa: “Really...Someone might end up telling Kaito 'Ugh, Kaito, sit down there!' (in reference to the magicians discussion earlier on) 😂” Mokona: “I really think that will happen! 😂 I think so too about him” Ohkawa: “And Syaoran...Syaoran will still have a little role! He really did his best, till now.” Mokona: “It’ll be good if he can get to have a say in this” Ohkawa: “I think he will. Really, everyone is doing their best, so...I really hope you’ll stick around to see it.” In response to a fan comment, saying how they like Sakura’s character because she is who she is, they said “We have no intention to betray that. That’s what makes her the main character and betraying the main character is not okay”. Satsuki mused that Sakura-chan was still an elementary schooler till the other day, she’s worked hard and she’s grown up so much now.

At this point they finally started wrapping the Space up with one last birthday wish for Ohkawa from each CLAMP member, while she jokingly (?) asked everyone to write again “Happy Birthday” in the hashtag. 😂 Mokona wished her the best with the imminent work on the anime scripts (judging by her words, she’ll start as soon as the scripts for the manga will be over), which she could already predict it’ll be a difficult job, even more so than the first time around. Satsuki also wished her to take care of her health since she’ll be very busy from now on, and that she hopes to be able to drink some delicious drinks with her soon. Nekoi expressed her love for her “boss” telling her that she still keeps a hat she got from Ohkawa when they weren’t professional mangaka yet ❤️ Ohkawa: “Do you love me?” Nekoi: “I do, a lot ❤️” Ohkawa: “Thank youuuu! 😂” The last message of course was from the boss herself. She mentioned the end of Clear Card which is imminent, and again invited everyone to watch the story unfolding till the end. She was talking with Nekoi earlier about how even Eriol and Syaoran were really hated while the old arcs were still ongoing: apparently back then, dozens of fans told Kumai-san (Syaoran’s VA) that they hated her because her character was being mean to Sakura! 😂Mokona sounded really apologetic towards Kumai-san and how hard it was on her back then, but she was grateful that she could endure and shake all of that off with a smile😅 Ohkawa said that the same thing happened to Eriol, both for the anime and manga versions, for how he caused trouble (to Sakura) 😆And it’s not over! Ohkawa continued saying that even Nakuru received her good share of hate because she was standing between Touya and Yukito 😂 Mokona yelled her “indignation”, because ‘Nakuru is such a good kid!!’ 😂 and expressed her wish to see more affectionate scenes between her and Yukito, since now they get along as good friends. All things considered, Ohkawa expressed her hope everyone can wait for the end to see things change. Of course, she’s well conscious there’s no 100% guarantee that people won’t hate Clear Card even after it’ll be over, and she’s ok with that. She defined herself a “selfish writer”. 😆 Mokona asked everyone to have a little bit more of patience (implying it’ll be worth it).

“Whether you laugh or cry, whether you want it or not, soon it’ll be over, so please read it till the end” ❤️

#cardcaptor sakura #card captor sakura #clear card arc #ccsakura #clamp #clamp space report #sakura kinomoto

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elina-sakura · 5 months

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💜🎉Happy Birthday, Makoto Kagutsuchi🎉💜

To celebrate his Birthday, I’m gonna write out why Makoto is one of my favorite characters in Rain Code.

Spoilers for the entire game by the way.

To start, Makoto Kagutsuchi is what is known as an anti-villain character, falling under the morally grey spectrum, which I love. I love characters that are morally grey, because they are super interesting with their complex backstories and motivations, and a chance for them to have a redemption arc. And for Makoto, his backstory and motivation is one of tragedy and circumstances. He was made as an immortal clone copy of his Detective original to be used as a super-soldier, and went out of his way to save a city of Homunculi from their creators’ mistakes, making sure they live in blissful peace and never suffer the same way he did. But it comes at many prices such as keeping them wrapped in mysteries, committing crimes to sustain the Homunculi’s lives like feeding them human meat buns, and keeping them isolated in the rain so they don’t go berserk and die. Only for the pressure to keep it all a secret to get to him and finally crumble under the weight, only being saved by his double that he had a hand in making as well when you think about it. Part of the reason his double makes the pact and erase his memories is in response to the Great Global Mystery Makoto created, and realizing he needs others’ help (something he is very much against in his own beliefs) and allowing him to see the benefits of social relationships. So in a way, both of the twins helped to heal and improve themselves respectively (I am so exploring this concept in one of my fics).

Another reason why I love Makoto is after a few rewatches of the game, you really start to appreciate Makoto’s actions and dialogues more with the full context of the story. Like when he’s asked by Yuma if he knows about any Homunculus, but Yuma refers to Homunculus as immortal monsters, which Makoto denies there are any. Because in his mind, the Homunculus are not monsters (well maybe one or two) and shows how clever his dialogues were and show his character more like Makoto’s empathy towards Kanai Ward’s citizens.

Plus, he’s a silly bean, even when he has no reasons to be :3

In the fanon side of Makoto, I love the interpretation of seeing him and Yuma together as twins/brothers because I love sibling dynamics. But I also love the two’s relationship because out of everyone, they can understand each other the most because of their shared memories and experiences. Even when they are different people now from the last three years. Another is I love exploring his character and relationships in writing, depending on the various situations I put him in or AUs especially (he might be suffering more in my AUs, but then again what writer doesn’t make their favorite characters suffer😅).

I hope we get more Makoto contents like in hopefully a sequel or a spin-off of sorts. I just want to see more Makoto contents from the game-universe. So for now Happy Birthday Makoto Kagutsuchi, and for more Happy Birthdays to come now.

#master detective archives: rain code #rain code #makoto kagutsuchi #master detective archives spoilers #rain code spoilers #rain code analysis #at least I think it might count as an analysis #Happy Birthday Makoto Kagutsuchi #maybe I’ll make a birthday fic for him but it might be late and it depends on my motivation

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onewholivesinloops · 1 year

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happy birthday to satoko houjou The Most Character Of All Time

it's still so fucking unreal to me how ryukishi revived higurashi in 2020!!!!!! on the 20th anniversary!!!!!!!!! and he did it to do a meta sequel wherein he smashed saikoroshi, umineko and utena together into a weird hypermix of insanity, pain and queerness to give satoko the Anthy Arc she’s always deserved!!!!!!!!!!!!

#ik it's still the 23rd here but idc it's already her birthday in japan #i wish i actually did something for it but i've been fighting the symptoms #so this is going to have to make do #higurashi #satoko houjou #gamo.txt

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princesshillaryellaworld25 · 1 month

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Drugfriend's scar

Drugfriend: O-Ow!

Sick BF: Does it hurt?

Drugfriend: A-A little bit

Sick BF: Man, I can't believe Evan did that to you. Plus it was deep too

Drugfriend: *sighs* Yeah, but it wasn't almost deep to kill me.

Sick BF: Aww you poor thing *hug* It's okay

Drugfriend: Were you upset that I wasn't a human?

Sick BF: Well I was at first because you kept it a secret from me but then I realized that you were just trying to protect me.

Drugfriend: *tears up*

Sick BF: Oh no! Please don't cry, was it something I said?!

Drugfriend: *wipes his eyes* No, it's not. It's just that the scar is still hurting, that's all.

Sick BF: Oh you poor thing, here let me

Drugfriend: Uh why? What are you gonna-

(Sick Boyfriend kisses Drugfriend's scar on his neck, Drugfriend was blushing very hard)

Drugfriend: (blushing) W-Wha...😳

Sick BF: *giggles* You're so cute when you're flustered😊

Drugfriend: (flustered) I….I…..*falls to the floor and nosebleed*

Sick BF: Drugfriend? You okay?

Drugfriend: *Too starstrucked with love*

Sick BF: Awwww

#friday night funkin #fnf spongebob parodies #fnf mod #fnf headcanons #fnf au #sick boyfriend #drugfriend #Shrugfriend #birthday arc sequel

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pony-central · 1 month

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So, did she change her mind?

Nathan had left his engagement ring on the bed, and went out to get some Taco Bell to drown his sorrows. Naughty PonyCentral came back from the fancy restaurant and got changed into her normal clothes.

Naughty PonyCentral: Man, poor Nathan. He must be so heartbroken after I rejected his proposal. 🥺

Then, she spotted the ring Nathan showed her earlier. The box was still warm. She felt tears filling her eyes.

Naughty PonyCentral: *gasps* Nathan's engagement ring! Oh, my God! What have I done? 😟 😢

She started to cry quietly. Then realising that she needed to fix this, she had to take matters into her own hooves.

Naughty PonyCentral: Hmm. I'm gonna make this right.

Nathan was at Taco Bell and was eating his breakfast burrito.

Nathan: *sighs* Man, being rejected sucks. I wish I could give that ring back to the Charity shop!

He then received a text from Naughty PonyCentral.

Nathan: *sighs* What is it? *looks at the message* GASP! Ohhh... My... God. 😮

He was smiling all over. He couldn't wait for what was to come.

Over at the ShrugFriend Household...

Sick BF: Hey, DrugFriend. Remember when our wedding was cool?

DrugFriend: Yeah. Hey, I wonder if Naughty PonyCentral agreed to get married to Nathan yet?

The phone rang.

Sick BF: Oh. I'll put the phone on speaker. *presses the speaker button* Hello?

Nathan: "She said yes" 😊

Sick BF and DrugFriend: *gasp in happiness*

Sick BF: Oh, my God! She said yes! 😄

DrugFriend: Oh, I'm so happy. 😊

Yep, she decided to change her mind and said yes to Nathan's proposal to her.

#fnfspongebobparodies #friday night funkin #shrugfriend #naughty ponycentral #nathan files #naughty boyfriend #Sick Boyfriend #DrugFriend #birthday arc sequel #she said yes

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weathertheraine · 1 year

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHOYO!!! ☀️🏐🍊

A kind of sequel to last year’s birthday art :D Here’s Brazil arc Shoyo!! he was a joy to draw and is a joy always.

#id in alt text #hinata shouyou #hinata shoyo #haikyuu fanart #haikyuu #artists on tumblr #digital art #procreate #haikyuu!!#fanart #hq!!#procreate art #Brazil arc #brazil arc hinata

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lordisitmine · 6 months

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TTNBD BLOG: PART ONE

I'm doing something different with this story. I always have much to say in the notes of my fanfiction and I'm usually bursting to talk about behind the scenes/commentary stuff, so I've decided to do blog posts to correspond with the updates of this story. I don't know if I'll do one for every single chapter, some of them may be grouped, but I hope people will find them interesting just the same! This post is to cover the first update, that being the prologue and the first chapter. Obviously, spoilers for those if you haven't read them yet.

INTRODUCTION

My writing process for a fic usually starts with the nagging vision of a single scene. It might be an ending, a beginning or a middle, but if it burns in my mind long enough that I have to write it down, that usually means that it will continue to stick around until I've done something about it.

Such was the case with To the End of Everything. In the late summer of 2014 (August I believe), I was on the bus, going to work, day dreaming (I can't read or watch videos in a moving vehicle, I'm very prone to motion sickness). I had recently been re-reading the first few arcs of the Kuroshitsuji manga and had finally gotten around to season two of the anime. Seeing Ciel as a demon gave me about six hundred thousand emotions, and so it was on my mind at the time.

Suddenly, a scene started to play out in my brain, and it was genuinely like watching a movie. I could see it all clear as day. It was Sebastian and Ciel, both demons, in twenty-first century London, standing at the grave of Ciel himself, on Ciel's one-hundredth-and-something birthday. Sebastian was holding a giant bouquet of roses and Ciel was rolling his eyes and pretending not to be totally charmed by the gesture.

This, of course, is the epilogue of TTEOE. That one scene dug its claws into me so completely that I spent the next four years writing an entire novel to explain how it was that the two of them ended up in that situation in the first place.

Fast-forward to the fall of 2018. It's almost Halloween, and I'm finally, finally, putting the finishing touches on the final chapter of TTEOE. Ciel and Sebastian are standing in the ruins of Phantomhive manor, which has been destroyed (again). The man who killed Ciel's parents has been defeated. The great evil has been vanquished. The contract between Ciel and Sebastian has come to fruition, but instead of Sebastian consuming Ciel's soul, he has transformed it. Ciel has been transformed into a demon, and he and Sebastian are even more irrevocably bonded than they already were (more on that later).

There were, however, still a few loose ends. No ending is ever truly clean, not in real life. And sure, this was fiction, but I like to leave room for my readers to imagine what might happen next for themselves, and also give myself a little bit of breathing room as an author, in case I ever do decide to write a sequel. But when I wrote the lines about Sir Arthur's followers still being out there, I didn't have any concrete plans to do anything about it.

Until about ten months later.

August, 2019. What is it with me and August? Well, whatever it was, it got me again. The same cemetery, the same grave. Only this time, it wasn't the twenty-first century. Ciel's death was still fairly recent in the grand scheme of things. And instead of Ciel standing in front of his own tombstone on his own birthday, it was Lizzy, bundled up in the cold, carrying out her grieving ritual, even still, visiting Ciel in order to wish him a happy birthday and to tell him she hoped he was in a better place.

And then an immediate hard cut to Ciel and Sebastian in Paris having wild sex. Here, let me quote my own outline document, which is the first thing I write for any fic, the place where I messily scribble down everything I want to happen in order to then break it down into scenes and fully write it later. I wrote this back in 2019.

"Lizzy visits Ciel’s grave. She tells him about her latest life update, how med school is going, how her friend Sybil has invited her to go to Paris for the holiday, and how excited she is that her parents said yes, on the condition that she take the servants with her to keep her safe. They've become super extra protective ever since the business of Ciel’s death and all that. Lizzy seems to be doing better, as the last time she visited Ciel’s grave was months ago, and we are led to believe she used to come here all the time. She ends the visit by telling Ciel that she might not be back for some time, and that she truly hopes he’s in a better place.

Cut to Ciel, who is indeed in a much better place- namely Paris, in some ridiculously lavish bed in a ridiculously lavish apartment, getting his ass eaten and his back blown out. It’s his birthday after all, and Sebastian won’t let him forget it, even if Ciel thinks birthdays are a foolish thing for demons to celebrate. It’s also their anniversary though, of the day they made the Bond, and Ciel doesn’t mind celebrating that one so much."

So, yes. I've been sitting on this sequel for some time.

The problem this time, unlike with TTEOE, was that I had no idea what to do with these two scenes. They were obviously the beginning of something, but the beginning of what, I had no idea. With TTEOE, I had elements from canon to draw upon, and an obvious goal- tell the story of how Ciel got his revenge and became a demon.

But here, any conclusion I might have was more vague. The cult was still out there, so maybe something happens that brings Ciel and Sebastian back to London? But to what end? Ciel is supposed to be dead, so it's not like he can just re-enter his old life.

I knew for sure I wanted the story to focus on Lizzy as well, to give her a narrative arc of her own, and maybe a romance (a sapphic one, obviously, because that's how we do things in my house). Would she know Ciel was still alive? Would she be a victim? And who would be the villain? Who had taken over in Sir Arthur's stead, and what was their even worse, even bigger plan that the gang would have to foil?

Obviously, I now have answers to all of these questions. But of course, those answers are for me to know, and for you to find out.

So, over the course of the last few years, I've been coming back to this story, adding random pieces in by bursts of inspiration, building a Frankenstein's monster of sorts. Trying to create life. And then a year ago in December of 2022, I decided I was ready to flip the switch, summon the lightning, and actually sit down and write this son of a bitch.

I really did intend to have it done a lot sooner than this. I was, in retrospect, a bit premature in announcing my intentions. However, one of an author's biggest motivations is their audience, so I think it was good that I knew people were waiting for me to do it, even if it did cause me to stress myself out more than a few times. But that;s completely on me, not on you, the reader.

I won't get too much into my personal life, but a number of things happened this that contributed to creative drought and periods of business that prevented me from writing. But I had encouragement from you guys, and I'll always be grateful for that, because it got us all here!

PROLOGUE: COUP DE FOUDRE

TTEOE had an epilogue; TTNBD has a prologue. There are several through-lines in this story (and oh boy has that been a BITCH to plot out, I hope it will be worth it) and a couple of those through-lines start years and years before the rest of the story, so I sectioned them off like this. Also, having a prologue makes me feel a little fancy.

Original characters are a touchy subject in fanficiton for some people. I personally don't read a lot of fic with OCs, which is wild because I'm currently writing one. But whenn they're executed well, some of the best fics I've read have had OCs play a major role. Of course, self-insert OCs are their own sub-genre, but that's not what is happening here. There were holes in the story I wanted to tell that needed characters to fill them, and none of the existing characters could reasonably be stretched to fill those holes. So original characters it was!

There are three original characters in this story; Sybil, who plays the most major role, who you met as a baby in this chapter and who you'll see as an adult in the next one. Then there's her father Simeon, who you've met as well, and another character who I won't mention by name yet because they're going to be introduced in next week's instalment! Both Simeon and this other person play lesser parts in the story, but they're important. I will be doing drawings of them this week, so you'll get to see what I picture them like alongside their descriptions.

EDIT: December 19/2023. I realised a couple more things I forgot to mention when I was chatting with my translaor van_Dort, for whose work I could not be more grateful! Simeon's name comes from the Bible, specifically the Simeon spoken about in the New Testament book of Luke, in Chapter 2, during the story of the birth of Jesus.

In Luke CH.2, Simeon was an old man living in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus's birth; he had been told by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he saw the Messiah. When Jesus was brought as a baby to the Temple in Jerusalem to be blessed, Simeon got to hold him, thus fulfilling his life's purpose.

The parallels between this Simeon and mine aren't meant to be super direct, but in TTNBD, Simeon's purpose was to father Sybil, and in holding her when she's born, he sees that purpose fulfilled. Also, as Van_Dort said, having a demon with a biblical name is just pretty cheeky and fun :>

Alois and Claude are here too! Season two of the anime is so juicy, with so many good elements to it, I just couldn't resist bringing these characters out to play. I can't wait to get into Alois's absolutely busted head and his wicked toxic dynamic with Claude. I feel like their relationship is a great foil for Ciel and Sebastian's, especially in this fic with the tone I'm going to take. I'm excited for you to see my representation of some of the events of the anime's second season.

CHAPTER ONE: A FAR, FAR BETTER REST

Ten or more years ago, when I was very, very involved in this fandom, much more than I am now (I'm like, here lurking but I wouldn't call myself active) I came across a piece of fanart of an older Ciel and Sebastian, and Ciel had this long hair, and it was so beautiful, and it changed my brain chemistry forever. I've never forgotten it, but I've also never been able to find it again, much to my chagrin. Maybe I'll try to recreate it now that I have the will and the skill to do so.

NEVERMIND! I just took a break from writing this to go search for it one more time and I actually found it! This is a repost on DeviantArt, The notes on the post say it was taken from 4chan but I can't seem to find the original source which sucks but I found it! I've been thinking about this picture for years!

So yes, this specific picture is 99% of the reason why Ciel has long hair in TTNBD. If anyone by some miracle knows the original source, please do share. That and growing out one's hair is symbolic of starting over or time passing or whatever thing you learned in your high school language studies/literature class. Also I think it looks pretty. This is exactly how I imagine him, I've been trying to capture this hairstyle in my drawings, I need to tweak his bangs a little I think.

Also, kudos to those of you who noticed that Ciel's fake name- Gespenst- is German for phantom! I couldn't resist the fun little reference, both to the name Phantomhive and to the fact that Ciel, for all intents and purposes, is a dead man. Also it sounds cool! Bonus!

ANYHOW, onto other stuff. Namely, let's talk about the telepathy thing.

My guilty pleasure is those middling to badly written romance fantasy novels where a nineteen or twenty year old girl gets taken away into a fae realm and falls in love with some hot strapped fae prince or whatever and then finds out that he's her Mate *gasp* and they're *bonded*. If you're reading this and thinking about A Court of Thorns and Roses, then you're thinking of the exact series I was obsessed with when I was writing the end of TTEOE.

In ACOTAR, Feyre and Rhysand have a mating bond that includes a telepathic link. I already knew I wanted the ritual that turned Ciel into a demon to form a tangible bond of some kind between him and Sebastian, and I was reading those books at the time and it just struck me upside the head. Mating bond! Duh! It plays perfectly with the possessiveness that's already inherent in their relationship and the fact that they're supernatural beings with supernatural abilities- and I also happen think it's pretty ~hot~ oop.

To be fair, it's not just ACOTAR's fault: I've been big into Star Trek since I was a teenager and if you know what T'hy'la means and the absolutely legendary fandom mythology that surrounds it, you know where all of my obsession with mates and bonds and stuff really comes from.

I hope I've done a good job of laying out sort of how it works between Ciel and Sebastian, but just to be clear- I don't see it as being like, the ability to read/hear every single one of each other's thoughts. it's more like a link that they can use to sort of "speak" directly to each other, or if one of them is thinking about something very intensely, they can pick up on it.

To me, the vibe of these two has always been "power couple in a crowded room at a party, having a silent conversation with their eyes about how they're better and prettier than everyone else here" and I guess I wanted to make that a reality.

Also it's a great trick to be able to use during sex scenes.

Which brings me to my next point: as you will see, there are a lot more sex scenes in this fic than there were in TTEOE! And they're a lot more... how do I put this... graphic? That's Partially because Ciel and Sebastian's relationship is established, and they're demons, so they're just horny most of the time- and partially because it's been so many years since I wrote TTEOE! I'm just more comfortable with this stuff now and I know my way around it better from a writing perspective.

I wasn't even twenty years old yet in 2014 and now I'm staring down the barrel at thirty, so I've just grown up a lot and developed more as a person, as well as a writer. I feel like I've gotten better at writing in a lot of ways and one of those is definitely my ability to write porn. Not to brag or anything. I know it's a weird skill to be proud of, but in fandom it's a skill that's kind of worth its weight in gold.

Speaking of writing improvement, the honest-to-God biggest challenge for me this time around has been matching the cadence and tone of the writing in TTEOE. Having taken such a long break, and my writing voice having shifted like it has, I have to be deliberate about keeping it all coherent. I hope I'm doing an okay job.

Last but not least, Abberline's back! It's everyone's (my) favourite oblivious detective! I love outsider POVs and so I had a hoot and a half writing him in TTEOE, so of course he's back to investigate crimes and always be about one or two steps behind until the truth turns around and backhands him in the face! What will he do, where will he go, who will he see? Who knows! It's always an adventure!

Like Lizzy, Abberline has had his own response to what happened to Ciel. He's changed in his own ways and his place in life has changed as well. You'll be seeing more of him soon, along with everyone else.

Okay! I think that's all for now! Thanks for reading this... very long post! Feel free to ask questions, I'll be camping out near my inbox, and I'll see you again next week!

-lord_is_it_mine

#lord speaks #kuroshitsuji #fanfiction #black butler #sebaciel #writing #my writing #behind the scenes #ttnbd #tteoe series #ttnbd blog #commentary

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celestemagnoliathewriter · 1 year

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happy first birthday to Cariad, my postwar Remus x Tonks survive AU! 🥳

I wanted to finish this thing in a matter of months and then life got in the way. It's a year later and I'm still not done (but I'm so close to finishing!). So, in honor of Cariad's first birthday, let me tell you about it and gush about my blorbos.

I didn't plan on writing Cariad. I was almost done with Collide, my first fanfic, when a reader asked if there would be a sequel. I thought on it and decided to do it.

I had a LOT of fears going into writing Cariad. Unlike my time-traveling Tonks series, or the time traveling Teddy one, which had a pretty set structure with canon events for me to rely on, Cariad was a brand new endeavor. The central question that guided my plot:

If Remus and Tonks had lived, would they have stayed together?

and, what is the story about, when you strip everything else away?

What makes a life worth living and fighting for?

My quickest answer to the first question was always yes, but not without significant growth and challenges. They got married in wartime and didn't have much time together to be a 'normal' couple. When the big thing is taken away - the war - and the world is being reconstructed around them, what happens next?

The second question has a simple answer: love. Love is worth living and fighting for, including love of self, love of other, and love of community. Cariad addresses all of these things, told in three story "arcs," as I call them.

The first 25 chapters follow the immediate reconstruction of the wizarding world. Remus and Tonks are finding their place in this new society that isn't yet healed. There's grief, there's rebuilding, there's struggle. But most of this is centered on the world around them - how do we rebuild after the war? How do we create a society that's friendly to a family with a lycanthrope? There's love of community here - Remus and Tonks spent all these years fighting for their beliefs in improving the world around them, and now it's here. But it's not easy. Post-war reconstruction is messy and hard. Remus experiences so many disappointments, job setbacks, and Tonks is naive enough to think it'll get better more quickly. She learns that's not how it works, and she's inundated with work and her own ideals. By the time we get to the early 2000s, three years after the war is over, things are better, and their family expands.

The second 25 chapters, the second 'arc' of the story, centers on love of the other. When Remus and Tonks's daughter, Hope, is born, she's born with lycanthropic traits. Not a werewolf, but not 'healthy.' Remus's insecurities, coupled with Tonks's frustrations, lead to a painful separation. Their relationship has been focused on each other, yes, but so much of their energy has been put into the world around them and not necessarily the other. Hope's birth reveals these deep-seated problems that needed to be resolved, and so Remus and Tonks have to fight for their relationship. They had to fight to hold onto each other because committed relationships like this are both hard work and serious play. It was really hard to write some of these chapters, but ultimately, it was very gratifying to put them back together stronger than before.

The last 25 chapters, the third 'arc' of the story, centers on the family, especially the oldest children, Teddy and Hope. Here we're getting into the lesson of loving yourself. Teddy's the eldest and has experienced more prejudice, as a result of being around when the world was not as kind to Remus. His sense of self-worth is tied up in his ability to be a good brother, a good student, and a perfect son. He'll need to learn that he's good because he's Teddy, not because he perfects a role. Hope, having what I'm framing as a chronic illness, has a chip on her shoulder. She wants to prove she's just as good as Teddy and her famous parents, and she'll need to learn she doesn't have to prove anything to anyone. In this third part, we'll see Remus and Tonks settling into parenthood, making mistakes, but the spotlight will go to Teddy and Hope, as they come of age and come to terms with who they are.

At the end of the day, these are the three major plot points of Cariad. Fight for the world around you, so you can make it a better place. Fight for those you love, so you can play and work to build a life together. Fight for yourself, so you can be happy with who you are, as you are, because you're worth it.

It's been hard work to produce this fic, as creating plot points has been a lot of original work. Nevertheless, I've enjoyed writing it, and for those who have read it, I hope you've enjoyed being along with me for the journey.

#cariad #remadora #remus x tonks #remus lupin #remus john lupin #nymphadora lupin #remus x nymphadora #lupin x tonks #harry potter fanfiction #tonks x lupin #nymphadora tonks #teddy lupin #hope lupin the second #the lupin family #postwar au #remus and tonks live #ronks

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huffle-dork · 8 months

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A Surprise for a Glitch

Some hope for y’all- Alt’s Villain Arc won’t be forever :)

This is a sequel to Another Birthday but this time happy!!

Masterpost | More Swapboys

The bell on the door of the bakery chimed quietly as a young brunette man opened the door and then turned back to quietly thank the baker behind his hand stitched mask.

The door shut behind him as Alt Brody stood in front of the shop and smiled at the goods he bought. A green and blue chocolate cupcake. Perfect for a little birthday treat.

Something rustled in his backpack and soon a fluffy head popped out and meows loudly. Glitches had gotten so much bigger in the past year- the days of her hiding in Alt’s jacket were pretty much over. He laughed and pet her head. She was still a runt and pretty small for a 1 year old cat, but she was perfect for Alt.

“Good job hiding out for so long, girl~ I know all those things probably smelled so good!” He chuckled as he pushed his finger towards her and the black kitten rubbed her face against it with a loud purr. “We can share some treats when we get home tonight.”

He thought for a second of putting the cupcake in his bag- but Glitches was a little food thief. He didn’t trust her. So he adjusted his backpack and started walking down the street, pulling on his headphones to listen to some music.

As he walked- he thought about where he was this last year. Alone on that rooftop- still learning basic spells, convinced he could change the past. Now- he didn’t need to worry about that anymore. He had his friends back, his brother and… things had been good.

He was still feeling guilt and shame for becoming Impulse- but that was something he could fix… probably.

Today wasn't the day to think about that though. Just for today, he was determined not to worry and stew in his own thoughts too much. He did not need another night of drinking that Chase had to save him from…

Though god- going out for a night at a pub would be so fun. He’d gone with Henrik a few times but- maybe things had still been too hectic since they last saw Magnificent…

After all- Alt couldn’t even see his friends today… They all said they were busy. Chase had a patrol and intel of a bust to keep an eye on. Henrik had rehearsals, Jackie had his kids- think there was something at the school or something-, Dr. J had his patients… then going home to his kid.

Alt had hoped so badly that this was a day they could make free though. But, he didn’t push it. Hell, he didn’t even tell anyone it was his birthday. In his head- he was convinced the others still needed space from him. He just… had to take it slow- rebuild some stuff.

But, that didn’t make having another birthday alone not totally suck.

He sighed heavily and studied his cupcake again, then looked out towards the roofs of the skyscrapers around him. Despite the circumstances last year… sharing a cupcake on the rooftop with Glitches wasn't a bad tradition to start.

He smiled a bit to himself and then looked back at Glitches, “Which building looks good to you, Glitz? You can choose this time!”

Glitches mrrmphed and tilted her head, looking around at the buildings.

But, before Alt can try to interpret or make sense of Glitches’s movements, Alt’s phone suddenly started to ring. He blinks and then fishes out his phone. It’s… Jackie? Didn’t his kids have stuff tonight.

He swiped the screen and answered, “Hey? Jackie?”

“Alt! Oh thank god I caught you!”

Why did he sound so distressed?

Alt’s instincts were on high alert, his muscles tensing, his body glitching ever so slightly. “Jackie? What’s wrong?”

“Y-You gotta get over to my apartment quick, dude!” It was really hard to tell if Jackie was panicked or… laughing? “There’s s-something-!”

Then, the line went dead.

Alt’s heart stopped. There’s no way- Magnificent wasn’t going after them already was he?? Or maybe some enemy of Bro had found Jackie and his kids? There was no time to speculate! He had to go help!

Alt tried to picture Jackie’s apartment, then sprinted into an alley so he could glitch out of sight. He threw his cupcake in his bag and whispered a warning to Glitches before he disappeared in a quick zap of light.

He re-appeared right outside of Jackie’s flat’s door. He tried to listen for any signs of trouble but- it was completely silent. The glitch paled- that was probably bad.

Taking a quick breath and bracing himself, Alt bust open the door.

There was something glowing in front of him and he braced himself, lighting blue green magic at his fingers. Then, his eyes widened as he realized-

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALT!”

All his friends were in front of him. Chase was smiling warmly, out of his hero costume for once and dressed comfy. Henny was grinning brightly at him, and in his hands was a lit birthday cake. Jackie was laughing, hoisting up a giggling and excited Kelsie. And Dr. J was smiling softly, beaming at the sight of the younger brody.

Alt felt his breath leave him. “W… What…?”

“It is a surprises party, stürmisch!” Henrik exclaims excitedly, “Have you also not have one before? I did not even have many birthday parties in mein time! This is so exciting, ja???”

“Alright Hen, maybe tone it down just a smidge,” Chase laughed, patting his shoulder. He smiled at his brother.

“Hi Alt! Hiii! Happy Birthday!!” Kelsie squealed excitedly. Jackie laughs and looks at Alt apologetically, “Sorry I lied to ya, dude- Wasn’t sure you’d come if I didn’t make it seem serious! And this lil munchkin almost gave me away!” He bounces the kid on his shoulders, causing her to scream laugh and cling to his head.

“H…How… did you you…?” Alt was still staring in slight shock, voice quiet. “I… I didn’t even-”

“Chase told us,” Dr. J chuckled then gave Alt a playful scold, “Did you really think we’d let you spend your first birthday with us all alone?”

Alt flushed, messing with his hair, “I… I dunno what… i thought…”

A fuzzy bundle poked back through Alt’s open bag and mewled loudly. Kelsie gasped and scrambled to get off Jackie’s shoulders. “GLITCHESSS!”

“Come out of the hall and close your mouth Alt!” Chase called, “The wax is gonna get all over your cake bro!”

Alt glitches slightly and then hurriedly glitches to be at the table as Henrik sets down the cake. He looks wide-eyed as the rest of his friends gathered around the table, smiling at him. It was almost overwhelming. But it was also… really really nice.

Then, Alt winced, “...you’re not gonna sing, are you?”

“Well- now we’re not,” Jackie laughed good naturedly.

Chase comes up beside him, lightly touching his shoulder and then gestures towards the candles. “Go on, lil bro! Make a wish!”

Alt blinked owlishly at the cake. He glitched a bit in nervousness. He… he didn’t know what to wish for.

But, that was good wasn’t it? For once in his life… he had everything he wanted. He smiles and then blows out the candles, listening to his friends cheer with a happy and warm heart.

The others were quick to shower Alt in presents, overwhelming the glitch even more. Dr. J had gotten him so many new clothes, shaking his head as he spied Alt’s favorite joggers that were on the verge of falling apart. Henrik got him a halloween black cat squishmallow, very excited he found something that looked like Glitches. The kitten in question had claimed it as a bed pretty soon, so it was clear it was a great success. Kelsie had drawn him a lovely picture of him and her together, with Glitches too of course!

And Jackie and Chase had pitched in together to get something big, Alt’s own switch. They even managed to get one that was his favorite colors, green, blue and black.

Jackie clapped him on the back and grins, “Didn’t know what games you’d want so tomorrow we can go to the shop and getcha whatever you want! On Chase, of course.”

Chase crossed his arms and smiled, but had some of that hero authority in his voice. “Granted- you return any switches that you’ve stolen-”

Alt flushed and then pouted at Chase, “Man c’mon!”

“Alt-” Chase’s tone got even more serious and the glitch pouted more. Chase rolls his eyes, “You can’t even use the stolen ones! One, you always complain the games are crap- or the system is glitched and two You try to charge them with your magic but you just end up passing out!”

The glitch gasped and then pointed incredulously at Chase, “Hey! I told you that in confidence during a very drunken stupor! How dare you use that against me!”

The rest of the party laughed at the brothers’ antics, going to help themselves to cake.

Chase pulls Alt in to give him a noogie, making Alt glitch in protest. But then, Chase hugs him tight and for a second it sounds like he’s choked up. “... Happy Birthday Anti… its good to have you back.”

Now, Alt has tears in his eyes and he’s still for a second in Chase’s arms, taking in his words. Then, he nudges him hard in the chest and glitches away while cackling. Chase shouts out and then tries to wrestle his cheeky little brother to the ground. Alt laughed with his whole chest, and the others looked at each other with happy grins. Chase grinned wide. This felt just like they were kids again!

The boys wrestled, cake was had, games were played. And the night ended with the boys all asleep on the couch, some Halloween movie on in the background. Alt pet a sleeping glitches as he leaned back and smiled at the ceiling.

Damn… this really felt like home.

#if this has typos or grammar issues I’ll fix it later jghhn #we need to play games for v’s birthday!!#but also happy birthday to anti!!#finally a happy birthday for my favorite glitch :)#alt anti #swapboys #swapboys au #bro fantastic #Henny von schneeplestein #dr. jj #Kelsie mann #Jackie mann #jack1eboi #readswapboys

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