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jjungkooksthighs · 11 months

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Claws of Carnality | jjk (m) (14)

Pairing: alpha jungkook x omega reader

Genre: fluff and angst, abo/werewolf, fantasy

Rating: 18+/nsfw

Word Count: 8.8k

Summary: The Duels of the Chosen begin, and the alphas battle the right to take the omega as their own.

Warnings: CHARACTER INJURY, LOTS OF BLOOD MENTIONS, GORE (this will not be for people who are squeamish with blood/gore), dom!jungkook, alpha!jungkook, alpha!Taehyung, alpha!Jimin, sub!reader, omega!reader, cursing, praising, possessive!jungkook, teasing, dirty talk, marking, manhandling

A/N: Hello, all! It’s been some time, but we are back again with another update! I have been very busy with work and school, so that was one of the reasons this took so long. The other reason was that I knew a lot of you were waiting specifically for the long-anticipated fight, and so I became overly critical of myself and didn’t like anything I wrote. This is a chapter that was one of my first ideas for this story, so I wanted it to be as perfect as I envisioned it in my head. Nothing I wrote could match that, and finally I became resolved to just writing without stopping or editing until the end. I hope that you all find this to meet your expectations, given that it is over twenty pages long. Oh, and let me know what you think about that cliffhanger at the end (or anything about this chapter because comments are like the bread and butter of writers), yeah?

Series Masterlist

It is as if time itself has grown tired as the seconds slowly tick by, the silver circlet twining itself around your head becoming heavier the longer it stays nestled there.

It saps your senses and strength away to leave you entirely incapable of movement and thought. In some cases, it even dulls emotions. It was why the substance was forbidden to be used except in ceremonial rites like the Duels of the Chosen.

Soon, even managing a thought becomes a challenge in how the silver intertwists you in numbness in your own head. Even your eyelids fall lower over your eyes in how leaden they have become.

The sound of something distinctly metal comes from somewhere near your feet. It takes a moment for you to drag your irises down your mate’s body to where his hand is fiddling with the bolt holding the first latch closed on the brown wooden box at your feet. The box, like its counterpart that has yet to be opened, is bigger than the one your diadem had come from.

His long fingers easily flick up on the last latch to the second of the three wooden boxes that are of a sepia, umber, and burnt sienna make. It is the second largest box of the three. What your alpha reveals is on a bed of white velvet and you see not one, but two pieces laid under one another that shine in the moonlight.

They are identical and appear to be a kind of cuff for your wrist in their size. They, like are your diadem, have twisting and tangling silver strands that root from the bottom of the piece to the top, and interspersed throughout the bevy of liana-like tendrils, you can make out small, intricately forged flowerets not unlike the curtain of vines that flowers of all colors and sizes cling to along the stony wall hiding the creek that you used to habit.

It's a task to summon the memories of that place with the circlet that siphons away your cognition. Every time you try, what you are searching for seems to swim away from you in the sea of darkness that has swept your mind in its sway.

“Forgive me, my beautiful flower,” your mate’s voice lifts your very soul as you watch him undo the clasps of the first piece, his digits working the hook with ease and, from his knees, he reaches for your arm while he says, “the tradition is that you must be bedecked in silver before I am allowed to go fight. I fear I may not even make it that far if I do not do this now.” His calloused fingers wrap around your forearm and he turns it so that the underside of your arm is extended to him as he lifts the silver cuff toward it with the other. He doesn’t release your forearm, but instead curls his fingers tighter over your bare flesh as he says, “But gods, you test me so.”

Trying to put together words or sentences is like trying to fish in a dark, murky river. As for your emotions, even they have begun to grow dormant under the waters of dullness that try to quiet them.

It's all you can do to let your head fall to the side in question, the leaf-shaped crystal hanging from the middle of your diadem reflecting the light of the moon.

Attuned to you as ever, your alpha grins, “All I meant is that you have a very, very powerful effect on me, my love.” He guides your arm forward until the back of your hand rests on his shoulder. Then, his fingers are gone and he fits the adornment over your wrist as he hooks the first of the five blossoming fastenings along the undersurface of the bracelet over one another while he confesses, “I wanted to keep kissing you,” he closes the last of the fastenings over your wrist before bringing it to his mouth and placing his lips over your bloodied palm before he turns your now limp arm back over so that you can put your dead weight on his shoulder. Then, he’s grabbing your other so that he can adorn it, too, as he tells you, “I wished to keep tasting you,” a pink tongue glides along his lip where your blood now coats it, a groan slipping from him whilst he secures the fixing on the other wrist cuff as he admits, “And I wanted to keep exploring your body.”

You can only whimper in answer, but even that sound is now muted to your own ears as if you have cloth stuffed in them while the silver sifts out the energy from your body like a drain where the metal touches your flesh. It is heavy as a rock, and your wrist is trapped within it as you whimper.

Your alpha’s eyes soften at that, and still on knees, he reaches for the third and largest of the ornately carved boxes. Somehow, his digits work even slower now on this one.

You do not think about why. All you can do is sit and watch as a tethering torpor climbs up your arm like a fungus from where the silver cuffs bind them.

“You probably have already realized it by now, omega,” his eyes are locked on yours when his fingers find the hem of your gown behind your ankle and then he’s balling it in his hand, “but it gives me no pleasure to bind you up like this. I am very well acquainted with what silver does to our kind. I made this silver for you, but I also had to make it for myself, too.” He’s careful to lay both of your hands on your lap, “the only reason I am still capable of basic movement while touching it is because I seem to have made myself somewhat tolerant to it with how much I’ve had it on me during my ruts,” golden irises find yours when he adds, “ruts that I could not spend with you until you had accepted me.”

Your heart gives a weak pang against your ribcage at that.

“I’m almost done, sweetheart. Bear with me.” He tugs up on the ovular clasp on the third, final and biggest of the wooden boxes–this one the length of your calf in its size–before pushing inward, and then he’s lifting up the top of the box to reveal two grandiloquent adornments that you’ve never seen anything the likes of before.

It takes some time to process what they are, but you cannot ignore how wondrously they glint in the firelight that makes them sparkle bright as the stars.

With his hand still gripping at your skirts, your alpha coaxes your knees apart so that he can resituate himself and put one of his knees between yours.

It is a strange thing to be so silent, but you know if you didn’t have this silver on you right now, you would be begging.

Your alpha must know it, because he chuckles when he coaxes your left leg up and onto his so that your foot rests on his thigh, and gods, the sight of him on his knees for you has familiar heat stirring between your legs as your sex cries for him.

The wind chooses that moment to wind around you, and then your alpha is cursing under his breath, his fingers tightening in your skirt as he cusses, “Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, omega.”

His movements hasten then, and his eyes dilate in desire. You feel your skirt ascend and climb along your leg until he’s got it bunched up atop your knee, but it is a blur after that the muted sound of a clink. You don’t even realize that he’s fitted the piece over your calf and pulled together the three clamps only with one hand along the back of your leg before he’s heaving a heavy breath and leaning forward to utter, “It is a good thing I am touching this silver and that it deafens my senses to an extent, because if it didn’t,” his lips brush the inside of your knee as he mouths, “I’d have likely been unable to stop myself from standing and taking you against this fucking tree you sit on.”

You have half a mind to tell him you want it, that you want him, but words do not come. Every time you seek them, they bury themselves in the silt of your brain and no matter how hard you try, the silver circling your head hides them from you.

All you can manage is a stuttered,” Ah..al…alpha.”

At the sound of your voice, your alpha’s irises contract from between your thighs as he looks up at you. “Here, my love. I am here.”

You wish you could speak more to him. You wish you could touch him. You wish he would-

“I can hear your desire as much as I can smell it, my love,” your alpha tells you as he brings his lips over to the other side of your knee and he presses his mouth to your skin, “your pre-heat is making you fucking needier as the seconds pass, pretty girl.”

You make an effort to make your thighs meet, but the leg that he’d just wrapped silver in does not heed your mind or your instinct.

You pout. It’s all your body has energy left to do.

You hadn’t noticed it before now, but the usual softness, warmth and wetness of his mouth and fingers was gone. Stolen by the silver that drew sensation away until little to none remained.

Suddenly, there’s something hard gliding along your upper shin, and when your alpha’s mouth leaves you, two fresh, new punctures dot your skin along the base of your knee.

You had not felt him bite you. There had not been any pain due to the dulling effect of the silver just beneath his mark.

Crimson now lines his mouth and he lets it descend from the middle of his lower lip and down his bare neck. You lick your lips as you watch it, your tongue dense as a stone.

Jealousy hangs low in your gut over you in how your own blood gets to trail down his body and you can only watch. Your alpha’s mouth curves up at that, and two canines, each red with your blood, protrude from under his lips.

“Worry not, my love,” your alpha’s fingers find your other ankle and he guides it up so that your foot rests on his leg, his head dipping between your thighs while his digits tug the ball of fabric of your skirts higher so that he has more access to you, “I will satisfy every single one of your fantasies, every single one of your dreams, and every single one of your cravings,” his mouth finds the tender flesh of your inner thigh as he angles his head to the side, your own lips parting as his tongue slides from between his to lick you as he says, “I’ll let you have me anyway you wish, my love. Anything to make you happy, pretty.”

You latch onto that word. You try to follow the line he’s thrown you in the river of languor, and you can manage through the current of listlessness, “Y-yours…w-want to-“

You try again, but attempting to get your head above the water of stupor that has settled around you is too much.

Your alpha coos, “Oh, my omega. I hear you. I see you,” He suckles at your flesh before lightly biting down the same time you hear that clinking sound again, his freed hand placing the other silver adornment along your shin only for the sinking of all of his teeth into your flesh to feel as if he were only nipping you. “I feel your very blood trying to give itself to me like this. How badly I want to give in to you, my little vixen.”

“Pack Alpha Jungkook,” your grandmother’s voice sounds in the distance from where she stands on her place at the edge of the timbered stage, “It is time. She is more than ready for you to go to battle.”

“Give me a moment,” your alpha declares.

You do not hear her at first. The sounds and vocables mix together and you can only discern bits of pieces of it.

Not…not ready…alpha…

They are the only words that you can remember long enough to think them.

In front of you, your alpha’s tongue drifts to and fro over the wounds he’d left on your thigh.

I must, my love. I must.

His voice finds you even though his mouth doesn’t move.

You attempt to reach for him, to get closer to him, but it’s as if a weight has been attached to your arm and no matter how much you attempt it, it is too heavy to move. As if to soothe the frustration you let out in the form of a shaky sigh, he gives you featherlight kisses anywhere and everywhere that he can along your thigh before he turns his head inward toward your other and opens his mouth to mold it against you, his tongue laving at you ardently.

The attention has your core clenching around nothing.

Before he departs from between your legs, his digits finish their work in securing the clamps along the back of the other piece of silver he’d put over your shin.

Like the air, his fingers are ever present and wind over the silver etchings he’d forged for you until they roam to the front of the adornment he’d just attached to you. The knuckles of the hand he has tangled your skirts has gone snow white in the tight grip he has on the thin fabric.

He’s holding it like it is a lifeline, and honestly, it just might be. He’s all that is grounding you right now.

“Stars above, my love, you charm me even when silence and stillness have stolen what is only mine to have,” he gently helps you to put your feet back on the grass, his golden irises sowing themselves deep into yours as he does, “I used to think about what you might look like all tied up and bound for me, but none of my imaginings could ever be as good as this.” He rises to stand above you and it only takes two of his fingers under your chin to lift it enough so that you can keep your gaze on him, your bare neck exposed for him as he inspects his handiwork while he goes on, “You haven’t any clue just how seductive you can be when you aren’t even trying, omega. Look at yourself.”

Distantly, relief trickles over you at how fucking responsive your alpha is to you. You wouldn’t have otherwise been able to move your head so that you could look upon him given that the rest of your body isn’t responding to what the apex between your legs has been sobbing over this entire time.

Your wolf sluggishly stirs at his command, and you do as you are told with your head empty of everything except the need to satisfy him.

It takes some effort. Drawing your eyeline away from him is like towing an anchor through a muddy seafloor. The red paint of your own blood that you’d etched all over him has darkened even more in its dryness across his muscled arms and corded chest. Lighter trails of it have swept themselves down his neck from where it drips from his lips from his earlier ministrations, and with the hooded look in his eyes and wild black hair that curls around his chiseled face, he looks like he wants to devour you.

You know that you’d let him. In the back of your mind, the image of him with his head trapped between your legs, your ankles thrown over his shoulders and his lips wrapped around your pussy flashes. It sends wetness between your already slicked folds.

“Lustful little thing,” your alpha groans when your scent reaches his nostrils, “Stop thinking about getting fucked, pretty girl. I told you I would take care of that when this is over. Now look at yourself,” he orders.

His fingers that he’s kept under your chin lower your head so that you have no choice but to look ahead where he wants you to. You don’t have the strength to move it on your own anymore.

The first thing you notice is that he’s still got your skirts rolled up between his now snow-white knuckles. The second thing you notice is the skin of your thighs is now painted in bloodied trails of your essence that circle and tread toward the very bindings that your alpha had just put on you. The third thing you notice is that just below your knee, rivulets of silver run along your shins and calves. Like they have dripped from the rocks of the creek you often played in as a child and found respite in as an adult, the silver drizzles down your leg until it pools around your ankle in the thick band of metal that encircles it.

“C-creek?” you let the heavy, rolling tide of that thought bring the word forth from your lips.

“Yes, sweetheart. I had hoped to capture the essence of the places you love the most in all of the pieces I made by hand for you,” his fingers loosen around the clump of your skirts under his fingers, and slowly, it descends down your knee, your shin, and then finally your ankle as you both watch. “It’s not a perfect replication, but a lot of silver passed through my hands in my mission to make something only you would be able to wear and bear.”

Affection courses through your veins as steadily as the blood that runs through your body at his words.

“Pack Alpha Jungkook,” the sound of wood rattles against the platform she stands upon when your grandmother strikes the timbered stage with a staff of oaken bark to announce, “With your preparations complete, you must now head to the battle grounds you have chosen where your challengers await your arrival. If you have anything else you wish to say to your intended or to the pack, you must do so now.”

Without taking his eyes off of you, your alpha answers, “I do have something to say.” He coaxes your chin upward with the fingers he still has planted there, and then sunlight in the form of irises finds yours. His voice is carried only to you in the small breeze that blows over you. “I want you to know, omega,” his thumb slides along the cleft of your chin, “that I love you. And this fight…I do it for you. Everything I do and have done up until now has all been for you, my love.” He tilts his head up, his lips finding the spot between your brows just under the crystal that hangs from your circlet and then mouthing, “Be a good for me until I come back to you. I will return shortly.”

You bite at the log he’s thrown you, only a few words leaving you because the rest had sunken under the murky waters of thought in your head.

“Good,” you can’t even scrunch your brows together in consternation anymore because of how leaden even those have become. Your jaw hardly even moves when you speak, because doing so is impossible with the muscles that refuse to respond to you as you say between parted lips, “b-be good for…for y-you. R-ret…return shortly.”

That seems to satisfy the alpha, for he rumbles against you in response. “That’s my girl.”

His mouth leaves you, and though you can’t really feel their warmness or softness anymore because of the silver, you miss them already.

He gives you one last glance, and in those eyes of his, and compassion clings to them as they cross over you.

You want to reach for him. You want to feel those arms of his around you. You want him to stay with you. That thought sinks away from you even though you try to swim after it.

Stay… alpha.

Your alpha steps back, shaking his head as he does.

I will never have to leave you once this is over, my love. Trust in me. I will not fail you.

With those words he sends through your bond, he turns away from you. Panic somehow worms its way into your gut as you watch.

Your alpha’ voice is firm as a tree stump and sturdy as the bark of one when he speaks again as the grass crunches under his feet. “To any alpha here-mated or unmated-do not go near the omega. My omega,” he adds. “Get within in one foot of her, and I will hunt you down.”

Before him, the males put an arm over their front and pound their fist into their chest one by one.

The sea of alphas and omegas part like a river for him, and no one stands in his way as he walks, his shoulders set proudly as he moves with confidence cording his muscles.

You try to whimper, but the sound is lost somewhere in your throat.

The other wolves cluster to one of two sides so that you have nothing blocking your sight from him as he treads on through the grass that catches his feet, the firelight of the braziers set every few feet bathing him in a golden glow. The red paint of blood he wears like a second skin, and it is a dangerous warning to the three that stand several paces apart from each other in the distance ahead.

The continual crunch of grass under your alpha’s feet continues until the grass yields to the dirt of the plain by the old knoll that had stood since the old times.

Your alpha halts, resolve now set in those eyes of his.

Before him to his left, Taehyung stares with a sneer on his face. In the middle of the field, ahead of your alpha is Yoongi, the russet-haired male that has his arms crossed over his chest. To his right, Jimin bares his teeth.

Your alpha reveals his own teeth to them all.

“Pack Alpha Jungkook,” the voice of your grandmother descends over the plain as she ambles, with two other elders, down the stage toward the mound before the plain, “As you have been named the Omega Y/N’s champion, you have been granted the battle rights and so you may choose the terms of this battle.” She peregrinates still, the thick furs around her shoulders unmoved even in her shaky footfalls, “No one may contest your decisions, and your choices are final once given. If any wolf breaks these terms, he will be disqualified and deemed unfit to take the omega as his own. Do you all understand?”

“Yes,” your alpha, without missing a breath, answers.

The other three males nod.

“Very well. Chosen one, do you wish to take on all of your opponents at once, one at a time, or in any sequential order?” She makes it to the top of the knoll, her knees popping as she does.

“I will take on Yoongi alone. The other two I will fight together. It matters not to me which I battle first.” Jungkook asserts.

Yoongi rolls his eyes. “Scared, Jeon?”

Taehyung laughs under his breath. Jimin cringes at the sound.

“Keep dreaming, Yoongi. I know how dirty you play,” Jungkook picks an invisible fleck of dust off his shoulder.

“Will you fight in your human form, or will you shift to your lupine form?” The elder in grayed, wiry furs is unphased.

“The first battle I will fight as a human. My second I will fight as a wolf. The others will do the same.”

“Will you be using any weapons in your first fight?”

“Hands, teeth, and claws,” your alpha decides.

“Will this be to the death or to the surrender of the fallen combatants?”

“To the surrender. I do not wish to lose any of my alphas. Even if they are a pain in the ass.”

“Are there any other conditions you would like to set, Pack Alpha Jungkook?”

Your alpha’s eyes harden on each of the males before him. “Any wolf that falls in combat will bear those marks for the rest of his life. I will allow no healers or menders to their side unless the injury is life-threatening.”

“Those conditions will be met. Anything else?” The elder beside your grandmother asks.

“Yes. One more thing,” your alpha is unwavering as he takes a step forth, “No challenger may leave the perimeter of these grounds we stand on until the victor has been declared.”

“As you say,” the aged wolf on the other side of the lead elder says.

The rustle of trees sweeps over the land from the woodland around, and the fire of the braziers circling the arena of dirt is swept with the wind until all is quiet again.

Your alpha keeps his back to you, and so fixated on him, you do not see your grandmother lift her hand, the sound of horns filling the air as the two elders beside her blow into the wooden tusks with holes cut into them that they’d produced from the folds of their furs that cover the whole of their body.

“I will remind you, Jeon Jungkook, that as you are the current Pack Alpha, your title and rank will be stripped from you should you lose this battle. The victor will take your title, rank, and your intended should you be unable to beat them in combat,” The two elders at your grandmother’s side speak together, their voices melding into one, “Do you understand and agree to these terms?”

Your alpha doesn’t even flinch at the prospect. “I am aware of what will happen should I fail to be victorious. I consent to those terms.”

“Should any alpha fail to comply with these conditions, they will be exiled, and if it is the victor’s decision, he may decide to exile or end the lives of those he defeats.” The elders wait for all four males to acknowledge this with affirmations before: “Now, with the terms and agreements that have been given,” the elder in gray from atop the knoll who stands as the intercessor of the four alphas below voices, “Let the battle begin.”

For a few moments, all the males do is stand and stare between one another, no one willing to make the first move.

Your alpha is patient, so he waits. He has spent a long, long time waiting for you.

Worry snakes around your chest, its slithery movement slow and lazy as you watch your alpha’s muscles in his back tense as if he’s preparing to be attacked.

As if he can smell your concern, he turns his head to the side, his irises softening as they silently seek yours.

Worry not, my love. Just watch me. This will all seem like a dream in only a short while.

“The hell with this,” comes a dry remark from Taehyung, who shrugs off his black rabbit furs, the bones cracking from between his knuckles as he claws at his black linen shirt so that it falls in shreds at his feet, “I’ve been waiting for a chance to get revenge for what you did to my fucking shoulder, Jeon,” Taehyung covers the five circular wounds in his flesh, his eyes boring holes into your alpha, “and I will finish what I started with the female and make you grovel while I do it.”

“Oh, shut up already, Taehyung,” Jimin throws off his own furs, his eyes narrowing on the brown haired wolf who had just spoken, “I should destroy you first for what you did to my sister. To me,” he rips his own shirt from his body, “You fucking asshole.”

“Can you both just come at me already? I’m getting bored over here,” Your alpha stretches an arm behind his back, “Unless you’d like to let Yoongi have a go at me first?”

“Fuck off, Jeon,” Yoongi picks at his nails, “you two had better start ripping into some limbs, or I will.”

“No,” Taehyung pushes off his haunches and is off, “he’s mine.”

Jimin is on his tail the second he moves. Your alpha is still even though there’s a male running toward him and another behind that one. Taehyung’s arm lifts, his claws in the air and then he’s upon your alpha.

Fear constricts your stomach at the sight.

The brown-haired wolf draws his arm down in an arcing motion as if to slash at your alpha’s chest, but before it can make it there, your alpha’s hand, fast as lightning, races through the air and he grips Taehyung’s wrist with force, each of his nails sinking into the alpha’s wrist as if it were water. The brown-haired alpha barks in pain, his eyes unseeing of the other alpha behind him as he does.

Jungkook smirks, and with no effort, he swings his other arm back, his fingers clenching into a fist and then that fist makes contact with Taehyung’s stomach. Hard. The brown-haired alpha is flung like a pebble into the air and the impact of the throw has his head colliding with Jimin’s so that there’s a loud thud as Taehyung’s skull hits the other’s that is hard as a stone.

“Surely you both can do better than that? I’m a little disappointed. I wasn’t expecting much from Taehyung considering he’s never been that great a fighter,” your alpha wrinkles his nose in disgust at the fresh blood that now coats his hand as he looks down at it, “but Jimin? You usually are faster than that. It’s unlike you.”

“Basta-“ Jimin is silenced when Jungkook impels his foot down on his abdomen to knock the breath out of him.

Your alpha’s tone is devoid of any warmth when he chides, “I thought I told you not to address me with such disrespect.” He stomps on the downed alpha’s chest again, the rib beneath it cracking like a twig as Jimin yips in affliction.

Taehyung gets to his feet and swings, but Jungkook uses the body of Jimin like he’s a stepping stone to jump to the other side so that Taheyung misses and your alpha tuts, “Ah, ah, ah, Taehyung. It is rude to try to punch someone when they’re looking.”

“Like I give a fuck,” Taehyung curses, and when he swings again, Jungkook jumps back with inhuman speed. Across from him, he just narrowly misses Jimin who had rolled to his belly and pushed off his hands to get up.

Jungkook flicks his bloodied hand toward the ground as if to get it off and red dots the ground before he taunts, “You know, I’ve always thought you smelled absolutely rancid, Taehyung,” he wipes the remains on his trousers, “but I didn’t think it was possible for you to smell worse than the bottom of a fucking bog.”

Taehyung responds by yelling out the Pack Alpha’s name, and then he’s making another dash for him. Jungkook isn’t even phased by it. He just steps sideways so that the alpha’s claws and open maw miss him completely. Jimin comes for him next, but he dives toward the ground and rolls when the other alpha tries to swipe at his side from below.

Yoongi, the passive bystander, stays where had been since the beginning and files at his nails using a rock he’d picked up.

Meanwhile, Taehyung scampers like a wild man toward Jungkook. Anger has turned the whites of his eyes red, and his movements only grow more erratic the longer he battles.

When Jungkook rises to his feet once more, he grins at the sight. “Always so quick to anger,” he spins when the brown-haired alpha’s arm descends downward, “and always so easy to defeat.” He rotates the other direction when Taehyung’s attempts to uppercut him, “I knew you would not be difficult to defeat from the moment I threw you against that tree in the fucking forest when you talked back to me. When you dared to disrespect and defile my intended with your tongue,” Jungkook’s fist ascends toward his maw, but the brown-haired wolf holds up both arms in front of his face to block. The force of the blow knocks his arms away from his face, one of his elbows pushed up into an area of his arm that it doesn’t belong as he curses loudly and the wolf staggers backward away from Jungkook, who mocks, “I should take your tongue for all its slander, but taking that ego and pride from you will hurt you more than that ever could.”

Jimin sprints so that he’s waiting on the opposite side of your alpha, but before his outstretched foot can make contact with Jungkook’s stomach, his calf is caught by Jungkook’s fingers. Your alpha keeps that leg in his hold, his claws elongating and puncturing the flesh there so that Jimin winces and cries out.

Momentarily seized by the pain, Jimin grabs at his leg while Jungkook reprimands, “and you, Jimin…You used to be such a good friend to me. I have missed your presence and friendship.” He headbutts the male, “Were you not distracted by Taehyung, you might have actually made me break a sweat.”

The scraunch of dirt sounds from behind him, and Jungkook crouches as Taehyung catapults himself toward him. He hurls Jimin to the ground, and Taehyung’s teeth embed themselves into Jimin’s chest as the two tumble to the ground. In the scuffle, Jungkook’s claws that had been lodged in Jimin’s thigh had cut through his flesh like it was fluid, and blood sprays all around them before Jimin lands with a deafening thump on the dirt that is stirred up in a cloud around the males.

When it clears, a motionless Jimin is lain under Taehyung, who extracts his claws from around his heart and rises without even glancing his direction. Crimson gushes from the downed alpha’s wounds, his skin torn and mangled from his thigh all the way to his foot where his lifeblood flows out of him like a red sea. Bone peeks from beneath the five angry incisions that sever his skin from itself along his leg and his chest heaves with labor where the blood pushes itself out from the five punctures around his heart.

Agitation dots your alpha’s face where Jimin’s blood does not, his entire chest now speckled with crimson that you had not put there.

He had not wanted this to end in death for any under his charge.

“This is your fault, Jeon,” Taehyung spits, “If you had just fucking stood still, you would be on the fucking ground right now, and your little bitch would already be mine.”

That has your alpha’s irises lifting to his. They are colder than ice as he narrows them, “First you defile Jimin, who became your friend because I told him to, and then you insult my intended. Tell me, Taehyung, whose fault is it that you can’t even use your fucking shoulder where my claws severed some of the nerves there when the sun was setting?”

“Hmm,” Taehyung puts a bloody hand to his chin, “I would say it was the she-wolf who is to blame. I wanted to fuck her, and she didn’t want me to. You got in the way.”

“You will never touch her,” Jungkook lifts his lip so his teeth are on display, “and you will never have her,” your alpha growls, “not as long as I live and fucking breathe. I’ll break every bone in your body starting from your toes to your ribs if that’s what it takes to make you understand that.”

“Just as long as it’s not my face. I need that,” Taehyung’s sarcasm is loud, “the bitches I screw love it too much.”

With that, Jungkook roars so even the mountains beyond shake, and he rushes forward toward the brown-haired alpha. He moves with such speed that even the wind cannot blow past him, and it is over in seconds.

One second, your alpha is in front of the older wolf. The next, he’s sliding along the ground under Taehyung’s parted legs, the dirt scattering around him like the bones of prey after a hunt. Jungkook puts one arm out to steady himself before he turns off his heel and rises so he’s stood

behind the unexpecting alpha, and there’s no time for Taehyung to react before both of your alpha’s bloodied claws cut through the air like daggers and he’s dug them deep into the other alpha’s shoulders. Taehyung wails in pain as his freshly dressed wounds are reopened next to five new wounds on his other shoulder where red drips slowly from both shoulders down his bare, naked chest.

He thrashes in your alpha’s hold, but your alpha is stronger, and he knocks Taehyung’s knees out from under him so that he falls onto them in the black dirt.

“You’ve lost once again, you fool,” Jungkook utters, his claws tearing at the other’s flesh every time he thrashes, “now you can atone, at least a little, in your defeat.”

As they are, they both face you, and your alpha’s irises pierce yours when he orders, “Tell my intended that you’re sorry for debasing her with your speech and your actions. Tell her you will never do it again. That you’ll never pursue her again.”

Taehyung snaps, “This isn’t over yet.”

“Oh, but it is,” your alpha decides with derision, “It very much is.”

Taehyung attempts to wriggle out of his hold. Jungkook punishes him, his flesh tearing and ripping where Jungkook twists his claws deeper into him. Taehyung bellows in agony. More blood scatters down his back.

Jungkook huffs, only to extricate his claws from the male’s shoulders and kick him square in the back so that he falls to chest, his arms giving out on him with the way that the nerves had been cut and rearranged in the gory mutilation of his shoulders where flabs of skin barely hang on by a thread.

“Say it,” Jungkook orders as he stands tall above him. “I’m growing weary of waiting. I don’t want to have to use Alpha’s Bidding on you, but I will if I must.”

Taehyung remains silent minus the coughs where more blood spews forth from his lips. He must have bitten his tongue in the fall.

Though he can’t use his dislocated arm, he can still use his other one. That, and his legs.

Before he can even get his first foot on the ground, Jungkook’s hand darts out and his fingers project themselves over and around Taehyung’s neck so that he is held up under Jungkook’s digits. The Pack Alpha squeezes with enough force that Taehyung’s face begins to turn red, his breaths stuttering as his arms unsuccessfully attempt to pull the raven-haired alpha off.

“You’re weak, Taehyung. You always have been, and you always will be. Now give the fuck up already.” Your alpha urges him, the bite in his tone making the wolves around you shudder.

“I’d rather be fucking exiled.” Taehyung attempts to throw his only remaining good arm behind him, but Jungkook seizes his bicep in an iron grip.

Your alpha sighs with exasperation, tsking, “You really should know when to give up, you motherfucker.”

“You don’t say,” Taehyung goads.

Jungkook’s eyes narrow, his golden irises flickering as he mulls it over. Those irises settle on yours, and then your alpha’s lips set in a thin line before he acts.

There’s no hesitation when he twists Taehyung’s arm into an unnatural angle, the crack of bones filling the air in warning as the wolf on his knees hisses and howls in agony.

“No,” Jungkook determines, “that would be too easy.” Jungkook’s teeth sharpen and shift so that they are pointed like blades as he growls, “Running would let you forget. But suffering, “ his canines elongate until they extend below his lower lip, “your suffering will haunt you as a wraith for the rest of your life.”

The word has hardly left his lips before Jungkook wrenches Taehyung’s thin arm up, his teeth flashing menacingly before they disappear into Taehyung’s hand, the sickening crack of bones breaking under his teeth as he bites down hard enough that his teeth penetrate the opposite side of his appendage. The male screams, his fingers twitching uncontrollably as blood bursts forth into Jungkook’s mouth.

It is fetid as bile. It is putrid. It is gamy, and Jungkook blanches at its disgusting tang so unlike the sweet sugary taste of your own.

“As much of a thorn in my side as you’ve been, I do not want to see any of the males under my watch be killed. However,” Jungkook throws his head back, his teeth dislodging from around Taehyung’s palm so that an ovular junction of dark holes arc over and under both sides of his hand and then Jungkook’s hoicking crimson spit from his mouth, “that doesn’t mean I won’t hurt you for what you’ve done.” He releases Taehyung’s deformed arm that is now bent at an odd direction, his jaw clenching as he says, “It doesn’t mean you are not due for discipline since you seem to have forgotten basic respect and decency.”

“I’ve got plenty of th-“

Before the downed mall can finish, Jungkook slices his serrated claws once across the brown-haired alpha’s back, his expression hardening even though the captured male yelps through the stinging sensations left in his wake, “Silence. I will not hear any more defiance or disrespect from you. You will give me your fealty, or I will make you hurt so much that you’ll never even remember what it was like when you could wake up in the morning and use all of your fucking limbs,” he yanks back on Taehyung’s neck, four of his fingers pricking crescents on one side and his thumb pressing tightly in on the other, his claws dangerously hovering over his nape. Like this, your alpha presents the fallen male to you as he continues, “and you will beg for forgiveness on your hands and knees for daring to deflower my mate in mind and in body, “with the hand that does not hold Taehyung captive, Jungkook’s long, curved claws shear the fallen alpha’s back along the unmarked half, and Taehyung’s eyes go white at that, blood bubbling in his throat as the will to fight falls from him with his blood while Jungkook finishes, “and you will bear these marks I’ve scarred you with for eternity, so that not even the gods may forget your faithless acts of lies and licentiousness with the unknowing omegas you defiled.”

It takes until his cheeks begin to turn blue for him to give a choked sound of defeat, his arms falling loosely at his sides as Jungkook tosses him to the ground as if he were nothing more but a piece of meat next to Jimin, who is still as a corpse next to him.

You grow wetter between your thighs at the display of your alpha’s power. You’d always known he was capable and that he was formidable, but seeing him reduce the pack’s strongest to nothing…it was arousing.

Your alpha bends over between both of the fallen wolves, and then grabs a fistful of hair atop both of their heads and lifts their chins up so that you can see both of their faces.

Taehyung’s face is almost untouched save for the dirt and blood that have caked themselves onto his chin and cheeks. Jimin’s lids are slow to open and close, crimson dribbling from both sides of his stained lips. He is still lain on his back with pieces of his flesh hanging from his leg, the white of his bone peeking through small sections down his leg while his pectorals rising up and down heavily as he heaves air out of his system. His life essence trails sadly down the sides of his ribs.

Taehyung has not fared any better. The bones in both of his arms have been shattered and moved to areas that bones didn’t belong, and his back is marked in several puckered, open valleys of red, angry skin joined by rivers of crimson that make an ‘x’ shape down his back. His limbs are thrown about him where he is prostrate in the dirt next to Jimin.

“This battle is over.” Jungkook states with finality. “Neither of you can continue.”

“I,” Jimin weakly rasps through the blood that bubbles up his throat, “I yield to you, Jungkook. You have beaten me.”

Jungkook’s fingers unthread themselves from Jimin’s hair, his skull landing softly on the ground as Jungkook guides it down. Despite everything, Jimin had once been his friend. Seeing him like this…it was not easy even for the Pack Alpha.

“Get him to the healers. He will bleed out if he’s not tended to immediately.” Jungkook commands, the emotion in his voice held at bay because he knows Taehyung, like a hound, can sniff weakness and prey on it.

Two males depart from the crowd of wolves around them. They do not question your alpha as they lift him carefully off the ground and onto a mat of grass that is attached to a set of wooden poles on each end for them to hold. Before they can walk away, Jungkook holds his only free hand out.

The two males stop immediately.

“You will answer to me from here on,” Jungkook’s eyes blacken in the eclipse from light to dark, his words deep as he spills them, “voice to me your regrets before I have you removed from my sight.”

Jimin can hardly keep his eyes open anymore, his throat aching from wailing too much. Drowsiness from loss of blood makes his eyelids droop, and it’s all he can do to incline his head downward, his eyes closing as he manages, “I have many regrets. One of my biggest,” he hiccups,” was that I thought I could win against you.” Remorse shakes his voice as he lets Jungkook know, “The other was letting Taehyung manipulate me and losing not only our friendship, but the female, too, because of it.”

With that, he’s carried away into a dreamless sleep and the two males extricate him from the battlefield.

“Pussy,” Taehyung hacks up more blood.

“I don’t recall telling you that you could speak. Perhaps I need to give another demonstration to you of just how weak you are,” Jungkook’s other arm raises up, but before it can go near him, Taehyung cringes and buries his face into the dirt.

Taehyung shrieks, “No! Not my face!”

Jungkook lowers his arm, “You’re pathetic, Taehyung. Now give up.”

“Fine. Just don’t ruin my face,” he screws his eyeballs shut, “I was bluffing about what I said before, alright? Alright?”

“I have tried to be a reasonable male,” Jungkook’s fingers bend inward where he still grasps the other male’s hair, and Taehyung’s expression twists in discomfort as your alpha cautions, “But my patience with you is at its end. Yield to me before I break some more bones.”

Taehyung bites down on his tongue, but he has no other options. He knows he’s lost and that he now has no choice but to swallow his pride.

“I…I yield.”

“Good. Now tell her you’re sorry for everything. You had better mean it, or I’ll hurt you even more than I already have.” Jungkook warns.

“Like hell I’ll apologize to a woman.” He defiantly counters.

Your alpha growls, and he stomps with force down on the back of Taehyung’s knee, the bone shattering as he does. “I didn’t ask for your fucking opinion. Do it. Now.”

Taehyung shakes his head into the ground, his trembling digits digging into the dirt as the threads of pride that remain in him all but sever.

“Gods, that pride of yours is really something. Perhaps by losing it, you’ll finally gain some sense again.” Jungkook provokes before his heel bears down powerfully on Taehyung’s other knee, the ligaments beneath fracturing and splintering upon impact.

Taehyung groans in torment, and what little of his pride had been left is torn from the very base of his being as Jungkook whips Taehyung’s head back so that his spine is curved up at an odd angle.

A little while away, some alphas observe Taehyung with expressions of disinterest, disgust, and dismay contorting their countenance for his misconduct toward their leader. The others watch their leader with delight dancing in their eyes. As for the omegas, many cling to another at the gory spectacle. A few glare with hatred toward Taehyung, but many more look in awe at your alpha.

“Cough up the last of your pride, you imbecile, because none will be left after this. If you will not submit of your own accord, I’ll just make you.” Jungkook tosses him to the ground as if he were nothing but a ragdoll, his irises darkening like the night, his words cloaked in the veils of shadows. “I command you to get on your hands and knees. You are to beg my mate for her forgiveness for any time you so much as looked at, thought of, or treated her in a way you knew I would be unhappy with. Then, you’ll pledge your loyalty to me.”

How anyone could refuse Jungkook would never be anything you could comprehend, but under Alpha’s Bidding, no wolf could disobey he who was the strongest of them all.

Taehyung grunts as the wolf inside him moves, and despite the unbearable pain that it causes him, he cannot help it.

He bows his head and his mutilated arms, maimed back, and disfigured legs all fold under him as he bites out between blood, “Forgive me, my lady.”

Words do not find you with the silver dampening all thought in your head. And in your gut, you can’t find it in yourself to care what this male thinks, says, or does.

All that matters to you is the one who stands behind him. All that fills your vision is him, and soon, he was going to fill you.

“The days of your disobedience are over. You obey and you serve me. Tell me this is true.” Jungkook demands, his eyes black as ash and his voice gravelly.

Taehyung can’t even pick his head up, for he’d landed on his nose in the dirt. With his dilapidated arms, he’d not been able to break his fall. It’s a struggle for him to speak between sputtering out the dirt, but he cannot ignore the male standing above him even if he wanted to.

His wolf speaks for him, his defiance dripping out of him with his blood onto the ground at the victorious wolf’s feet. “You are true in what you say.”

Jungkook considers him before bidding, “You will never seek my female ever again, and you will do as I say when I command it of you without question, or I will sever your fingers, your toes, your legs, and your fucking arms from your body with my own hands if I have to. Is that understood?”

Taehyung’s skin crawls at the order, fear setting its teeth on him.

The last of his resolve slithers away from him, his muscles slackening as he concedes, “Understood, Pack Alpha.”

“What does it feel like?” Jungkook cocks his head to the side.

“What does what feel like?” Taehyung’s shoulders slump weakly.

Your alpha’s grin is vicious when he reveals rows of sharp teeth, his canines protruding from under his upper lip, “To lose.”

Those golden irises of his land on you and then they’re scaling over you as in a silent journey to appraise you of injuries even though he’s the one in the middle of the battlefield. They grow brighter the longer they are set on you, and with his attention deposited only on you, he doesn’t hear the pounding of paws against the dirt behind him.

All the veins in your body run cold, panic stabbing you through like an icicle. You are frozen in place under the numbing silver, but don’t care about the throbbing in your head from under your circlet that threatens to drag you into dark unconsciousness. Not even that can snuff out the scream that cuts through the air as a shrill sound rifts through your throat in the pitch of it that leaves the ears of every wolf in the vicinity ringing.

Those golden irises that are bright as the sunrise go dim as the dusk under the shadow of russet fur and snapping jaws.

#alpha!jungkook #werewolf!jungkook #jungkook x reader #jungkook smut #jungkook #bts smut #jungkook fanfic #bts scenarios #bts fanfic #dom!jungkook #alpha jungkook x omega reader #jungkook x you #bts abo

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mrs-gauche · 8 months

Note

If the Spirit!Solas theory happens to be true—and I’m confident it is—then it really gives you a new level of respect for how much restraint this guy has.

I’m talking specifically about his interactions with Dorian. The part where Dorian is trying to convince Solas that enslaving spirits is cool and neat and not wrong because ‘spirits aren’t people.’

Imagine having the strength of character to listen to someone tell you to your face that you are not a person and therefore undeserving of the most basic civil rights without immediately decking them in the face.

Solas puts up with tool much, man.

Oh yeah, definitely! 😂 (As much as I feel for Dorian just trying to find some common ground...) I guess that one line in Tevinter Nights does a great job of putting Solas' attitude on this matter in a nutshell.

[…] roared not in anger, but with quiet contempt. "From this moment, should you ever bind a spirit, then your life is mine."

Keep in mind, Solas has witnessed spirits suffering from the consequences of creating the Veil for at least a thousand years at this point, if only from the Fade. When he's saying "It hurts. It always does." to the Inquisitor after returning to Skyhold and Wisdom's death, he's referring to the countless times he had to watch his friends being drawn to the waking world, either forced, or to see them “wish to join the living”, only to be twisted, bound, corrupted, killed, you name it.

"How small the pain of one man seems when weighed against the endless depths of memory, of feeling, of existence. That ocean carries everyone. And those of us who learn to see its currents move through life with their fewer ripples."

Much like a lot of his banter with Sera taunting him about his grief for the past, at this point, Solas is so old and has witnessed so much history, so much pain, that Dorian's remarks couldn't possibly evoke any real anger from him. It's so insignificant compared to what he has seen. There's a reason why Weekes keeps emphasizing how friggin tired Solas truly is. This is after all the general perception of spirits in present Thedas, aside from a few cultures like the Avvar. He can't blame Dorian for Tevinter raising him to think of spirits as nothing more than "amorphous constructs", just like he can't blame the Dalish for the knowledge lost to time. Similarly to any other argument he has with the other companions, Solas' frustration/resentment is almost never aimed at them personally, but rather at the current state of the world that shaped their perspective. (As is also evident in how his banter always ends up with them eventually coming to terms and grow a mutual/respectful relationship. The only exception being a low approval Inquisitor and Iron Bull if he chose the Qun over the Chargers… In that case, the hostility was definitely personal. 😂)

(That being said, I'm SO hoping for any kind of serious emotional outbreak from Solas in DA4, since there's still like a thousand year old trauma that needs to be addressed. lol)

But yeah, I think, going by his actions in Tevinter Nights, Tevinter is definitely not ready for what's probably coming for them in DA4, now that Solas is actually able to change things. 👀 And isn't it interesting how he will now be facing the Imperium, which was essentially built on the ruins of the empire he brought down/the same slavery based system he once rebelled against, so history kinda repeats itself? lol

I think it's also very telling how Solas will immediately counter Dorian's comments on the treatment of spirits in Tevinter by directly comparing it to slavery.

Dorian: "There's no harm putting them to constructive use, and most mages back home treat them well." Solas: "And any that show any magical talent are freed, are they not?" Dorian: "What? Spirits don't have magical talent." Solas: "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were talking about your slaves."

But the beautiful irony in this, as I've talked about in this post, is how this draws a direct parallel to how Solas, in return, doesn't recognize the people of the waking world as real either, at least not until after the Inquisitor considers Wisdom a living being worth saving. This and his admission to the Inquisitor after he returns to Skyhold is imo the turning point in his character development. Imo, this is what leads him to say "Not at first. You showed me that I was wrong." in his high approval ending in Trespasser.

And this is also why I think that the theory of Solas intending to save the spirits first and foremost would make for such an interesting story actually.

The waking world doesn't view spirits as real people. Just like Solas can't accept the people of the waking world as real. So, what will happen if he tears down the Veil, and the Fade and the waking world become one again? The Inquisitor was potentially willing to save Wisdom despite it having already turned into a Pride demon. And in doing so, the Inquisitor unintentionally put up a mirror in front of Solas' face and basically went "If I can see them as real people worth saving, why can't you?".

And if the spirit origin theory is true, then it could make for a fascinating inner conflict. Solas, living in both the waking world and the Fade, having been a spirit and a corporeal person, is now facing the question of who "his people" actually are. Where does he belong? After all, his biggest fear remains to "die alone".

While this was said in more of a joking manner, Weekes' words from 2016 really put it into perspective here. Solas sees himself in that old fisherman he saw in the Fade. He is "the one who lived". So, I picture it like this… Solas is left alone in the Fade after the creation of the Veil. Spirits are now his only company for the next thousand years. Whether or not those spirits were the remaining souls of the elves he tried to save, we don't know, but regardless, I truly believe they are his people. But he is not a spirit. At least, not anymore.

Cole: "You don't need to envy me, Solas. You can find happiness in your own way." Solas: "I apologize for disturbing you, Cole. I am not a spirit and sometimes it hard to remember such simple truths." Cole: "They are not gone so long as you remember them." Solas: "I know." Cole: "But you could let them go." Solas: "I know that as well." Cole: "You didn't do it to be right. You did it to save them." Inquisitor: "Solas, what is Cole talking about?" Solas: "A mistake. One of many by a much younger elf who was certain he knew everything."

In this banter, Cole reveals to us that Solas' mind immediately goes from "It's hard for me to accept I'm not a spirit" to "the people that were lost when Solas created the Veil". To me, this pretty much confirms that the people of Elvhenan and spirits are connected, if not one and the same. It's assumed that the Evanuris mined the Titans to somehow create bodies for spirits to inhabit, and that Mythal gave Solas a body against his will. There's also the theory about the creation of the Veil having caused the separation of body and spirit.

You know, I've written so much about this in previous posts and I don't want to sound like a broken record, but if we consider all those little clues and look at all of his dialogue in that context, it just makes so much sense to me, that what he wants to do is primarily to save the spirits/destroy the barrier for them to enter the waking world without their purpose getting corrupted. There's also still the matter of the Blights and red lyrium otherwise probably consuming the entire world. 😅 I think that's what he's referring to when saying "What I am doing will save this world" in Tevinter Nights.

And remember, "Dread Wolf" is still literally an anagram for "World" and "Fade". 😂 Both worlds colliding is quite literally in his title. lol Whatever the six eyed high dragon sized Dread Wolf actually is, as far as we know, he only seems to exist within the Fade, but how exactly is he connected to Solas and what will happen to him if he tears down the Veil (which btw is also definitely gonna happen… I mean, besides the fact that the Veil is getting weaker regardless of Solas' actions)? ANYWAY.

Sorry for rambling so much (and I feel like my English is a little rusty, too 😖), but I haven't talked about this stuff in a while and the lack of news is killing me. 😂 But your message gave me something to think about again, so thank you! :)

#oh no this got so long again 😖#solas #also again Bioware I beg you please give us that ''Solas calling his spirit army and charging into battle'' moment from TN 👀#tinfoil time #da4 #''Spirit self. Seeing the soul. Solas. But somehow sorrows.''#watch us play DA4 one day and none of this turn out to be true 😂#but I'm gonna die on that hill lol

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posletsvet · 8 months

Text

Some further chapter 235 thoughts

Alright, a little disclaimer before I get carried away: this may and chances are will in some ways contradict my thoughts from when I last talked about it here. Right after the spoilers came out my thinking was driven by emotion, and before I got a chance to sit down and shape my opinion properly, the emotion was what defined it. I guess I shouldn't have written it down in the first place, as all I really did was allowed my feelings to get the better of me and judged the situation biased. My bad, really,,

With that out of the way, my opinion has shifted since, and as I've come to see it, there's at least one important thing that Sukuna vs Gojo fight did, and that is precisely cementing Gojo's position as the strongest. It's already a pre-established truth when we enter the story, but it's put into question with Sukuna finding a way out of his seal through Yuuji consuming that finger. Sukuna merely being brought back to existence is already enough to challenge Gojo's title. Is Satoru Gojo rightfully the pinnacle of Jujutsu, or is he, as Sukuna brags, just somebody who is considered the strongest when the King of Curses wasn't around to provide a contrast? Is he the most powerful sorcerer of all eras, or is he simply the one of his time, comparatively mild and peaceful? Two characters getting to be named the only honoured one throughout heaven and earth is an explicit contradiction, so how could both statements be true at the same time? These were the questions hanging in the air from the beginning, looming over both the audience and the characters' heads, and Gege undoubtedly has been laying the groundwork for Gojo and Sukuna's confrontation since the very start. So as much as I or anybody else may dislike it, the purpose of this fight was never solely to rescue Megumi. The debate over who should claim the title of the all-time strongest had come into question long before the necessity to save Megumi entered the equasion, it's been a thread unravelling itself throughout the whole narrative. If Gojo's arc is about to reach its conclusion, that could only be possible with this uncertainty dispelled. Now that we have a concrete answer, the narrative can move on from there.

What's also been a reappearing idea in the manga since the outset, is the notion that the strength positions individual's value in Jujutsu society, brought to us from perspectives of various characters. However, it's not the strength alone which defines one's place, or rather it's not all kinds of strength that are accepted as valuable and deserving of admiration. In actuality, what really matters is how well the person in question fits into the conventional image, which is backed up by centuries of tradition followed by those in charge. Otherwise the instances when extremely powerful in their own ways individuals are driven out to the outskirts of society just because they don't fit into the mold of traditionalistic beliefs enough wouldn't be present in the narrative, we just wouldn't have characters like Toji and Maki. The moral of their stories is, essentially, that in order to be recognized as an individual and have at least some singnificant say when it comes to making decisions in the Jujutsu world, you need to uphold a standard.

And by whom is that standard set?

My thoughts keep circling back to what Gakuganji once said regarding the defining forces in their society which Grade 1 sorcerers are, whereas Special Grades are rather 'something of a misrepresentation'. I guess those who are assigned Grade 1 really do have a greater influence on the world around them, and that is not due to their strength, but rather because they're setting an ideal for those below them in the hierarchical order. They're better fit to serve as role models, and in society where climbing to the top is a way to ensure survival, younger and less experienced sorcerers have no choice but to look up to those who thrive, seeking a way to achieve it, too. The strong get to dictate the standard, yes, but it's still essential that they uphold said standard themselves, providing an example. This even finds a reflection in the procedure of promotion. One needs to be deemed worthy upon receiving recommendations, and that requires having characteristics which fall in line with what is conventionally approved of. So while Gojo is considered the strongest of his generation, he is not, paradoxically, the most powerful player in the field, not in terms of political and influential significance. Not when he displays a mindset that is a stand-alone against traditional beliefs held by the absolute majority. That is a contradiction pointed out by Sukuna in early chapters: he finds it amusing that someone so strong plays by somebody else's rules.

How is all that relevant to the importance of Gojo winning the fight?

As we know, Special Grades tend to be lone wolves, too vastly outnumbered for their voice to be heard clearly. For instance, who in the Jujutsu world knows of Yuki's research and what fruit it bears, what insight into the nature of cursed energy her investigation provides? She's stigmatized for being a delinquent (I think it's no coincidence that the only thing Geto heard about her was how she didn't carry out her duties as a sorcerer), the work of her life going unnoticed with her death. It might be a complicated way for me to get to the point, but what I'm trying to say is that Gojo, as recognizable within sorcerer's society as he is, probably isn't that different from Yuki. No one really remembers his goals when asked to describe him. He's the strongest, and that's the only lingering impression of him. By coming out of this fight triumphant and therefore cementing his position on the top of Jujutsu society, Gojo makes sure he will be remembered -- just like Sukuna is still remembered, even though centuries have passed since he was at the peak of his power. With surpassing the King of Curses under his belt, Gojo's name is now set in stone, and so is his example for the future generations. This means Gojo's ideology will outlive him, and even if his beliefs might seem delusional as of now, it doesn't mean this won't change in the years to follow. Because the adequacy of one or the other set of ideas can only be measured by the context of society they exist in, and now that society has a stimulus to reconstruct itself, adapting to the views of someone who's proven himself ultimately superior judging by its own standarts. So yes, in the end Gojo and Sukuna both fought for the sake of proving they could win, but while Sukuna was after personal gain in terms of self-affirmation and growth, I'd argue that for Gojo it was rather about setting an example.

Now, to once again address my previous thoughts and how they've changed, I no longer think it's Gojo's loneliness that should be breached in order to bring about change. Gojo's being lonely is converted into somewhat of a symbol by the narrative, and, using a little bit of metaphor here, symbols should remain static, unchanged in order to carry meaning. In that sense Gojo still represents the flawed past which the main characters of the manga need to break away from, making him the last strong sorcerer forced to fight alone and trapped in his own position. Gojo as a side character needs to stay at least in some ways inferior for the protagonists of the story to outshine him, claiming the spotlight back. After all, it's all about giving way to the new generation, and Gojo himself acknowledges it well. He as a sorcerer of the previous, older generation is too well-ingrained in that very society which the whole narrative focuses on deconstructing. It's about surpassing your predecessors, and if anything, making sure his students will do so is Gojo's main goal as a teacher.

#jujutsu kaisen #jjk #jjk meta #jjk analysis #gojo satoru #ryomen sukuna #jujutsu kaisen spoilers #jjk manga spoilers #jjk 235 #twelve hours long working shifts do funny things to my brain #i spent the whole day alone with poor internet connection yesterday #and brainrot crept back in #i've been thinking a lot recently about what gege plans for the next chapter #and in what direction the story will go from there #the thing is #something as significant as gojo and sukuna's fight cannot end in vain for the story #so it got me thinking #and as a consequence i ended up reconsidering almost everything i had in mind before #but anyways i really hope we'll get back on with kenjaku's shenanigans now #and what uraume's been up to this whole time #and stick to the main crew's perspective again #i miss my darling boy yuuji #and nobara #and megumi...#arguably it's not gojo's job to bring megumi back #it's what the main characters are for

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cursedvibes · 1 year

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I recently saw the take that "having an overwhelming sense of self and disregard for others" is the message of jjk and what people should strive for. While I don't want to dictate anyone's life and prioritizing yourself is often a good strategy, the "disregard for others" is really not. I also don't think it's what jjk tries to teach us. Yes, this mindset can make for a strong sorcerer (assuming you already have the skills and technique to fight by yourself) and the strongest best work alone - see Gojo & Sukuna- but it doesn't make you a good person and comes at the detriment of your character. We need others in an emotional and physical sense, there's no way around it. Gojo pushes people away and is used to handling everything on his own. He was first forced to do it and then got used to it. But does that make him happy? No. He lost his closest relationships through it, namely Shoko and Geto. He couldn't be there to help Geto when he was struggling with depression (I don't think Gojo could've ultimately changed much but he would've been there) and Shoko is physically present and they do talk, but because he doesn't need her help in jujutsu, he doesn't rely on her emotional support either. Shoko said it herself. She would be there for him, but he doesn't see her and doesn't let her help him with his personal problems. Instead he's just pushing everything down to (not) deal with it on his own.

Besides, is Sukuna really the kind of person you want to emulate? JJK certainly doesn't encourage that. Yuuta was told he should subscribe to that mindset too and it would make him stronger, but is that really so important?

Yuuji almost exclusively fights together with others. He relies on their strength to grow himself. As it turns out that's literally his special ability. He digests the strength/CE of others and thereby improves on his abilities. His entire struggle is to find genuine connections to not die alone. He should use his unusual body to help others to receive their help and companionship in return. The exact opposite of the message stated in the beginning. While he gets beaten down time and time again, the struggle itself is ultimately shown to be a good thing. Similarly, Choso literally takes his strength from some of his siblings. His blood connection and compassion for them is what fires him up.

Sorcerers often have to operate alone and the best are most effective on their own because they don't run into the danger of hurting allies, but the entire series is dedicated to show how destructive that is. Haibara died because he was alone. Geto's downfall was accelerated by having no one to turn to and feeling left behind. The students made it this far in the Culling Game and managed to unseal Gojo because they worked together. Ijichi is physically weak and has no talent as a jujutsu sorcerer, but his administrative duties and support behind the scenes let missions run smoothly and have probably saved hundreds if not thousands of lives. Gojo's goal is to create a society where no one is left alone. It's honestly quite blatant.

What makes you strong isn't always what's good for you and even "weaker" people have a higher chance to survive and live a happy life if they are together with others. If you disregard others and only care about yourself, you'll end up like Sukuna. A king on a pile of bones who's slowly dying of boredom and can only be entertained by the suffering of others.

#jujutsu kaisen #jjk spoilers #itadori yuuji #gojo saturo

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absolutebl · 2 years

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hi! i graduated from film school this year & i've been reading thru ur blog for weeks now. u've talked abt cinematography before & it's a subject i'd love to hear more of ur thoughts abt. which shows do u believe use cinematic storytelling (framing, staging, symbolic parallels, lighting, color coding) to their advantage the most? shows which benefit from a rewatch/slower watch in order to notice visual details & which can be analyzed in terms of visual language. which would be ur top picks? ty!!

OOO, what a good question.

10 Best Uses of Cinematic Storytelling in BL

Okay, I should say up front that this is not BL's strength.

Second, I work tangential to ET but my degrees are not in film studies. So, much of what I know has been gleaned from coworkers and just floating constantly in and out of the industry, I may not always use the right terms.

The post where I get the most weedy about filming technique is actually the one where I talk about different directors in BL (their styles, camera preferences and camera angle choices, that kind of thing).

BL Directors - Overview

Finally, for each pick, I’m going to talk first about what I liked about the story, and then how the filming technique is used to serve that.

1. Restart After Come Back Home AKA Risutato wa tadaima no ato de

Atmospheric study in rural Japan meets complex family dynamics built on a romance framework of city boy meets country boy. It’s beautiful and icy sweet. Slow moving in places but ultimately worth your patience. Full review here.

This was the first BL that came to mind when asked this question. This movie highlights Japan’s sweeping atmospheric style (learned at the feet of Kurosawa) applied to a very simple little BL story about coming home. Like with HIs the move, the Japanese countryside itself is a major player and character, but unlike His this movie really makes use of its beauty as a metaphor for possibilities and acceptance. Some of the establishing shots are truly breathtaking. The use of color and shadow is also tailored without being brazen. The film uses it to contrast the the two leads, one of whom is closed off from his family and his home and, to a certain extent, life but open to love, and the other who is open to all sensation and the outside world, but closed off to love. How these two men are filmed, framed, and lit is interwoven with these traits - dependent on their internal emotional states and whether they are together or alone. Cold lighting, sometimes too direct, when they are feeling exposed or challenged, darker cool hues when they are internally reflective, warmer even angry reds and golds when they are coping with emotions around connection and intimacy with each other. And finally the closing shot of bright full day, revolving sparkles and lens flairs that’s implying a forthright acceptance and unity, not just of each other, but of themselves.

It is, simply put, a really beautiful movie to just watch as a visual piece of art, we are so lucky it also happens to be BL.

2. I Want to See Only You AKA Kimi no Koto Dake Mite Itai

This is a beautiful piece of cinema well acted, about two boys who are opposite personalities and grew up together. It is very pretty and this is the kind of atmospheric elegantly performed BL that only really comes from Japan (complete with dead fish kisses - what you thought Korea invented them? oh no). I felt like I was “supposed to like it” more than I did. Ultimately I was left feeling as if I had seen it all before. So for me this was lovely but slightly unmemorable.

Another show that is VERY similar is His the series (I Didn't Think I Would Fall In Love AKA His - Koisuru Tsumori Nante Nakatta). Only it has a beach setting.

I mention these two in this post and at this juncture, because they are very stylistically Japanese but lack intentionality to their filming. So they feel workmanlike in a way that I often accuse Thai BL of.. It’s almost as if in coming from Japan they can’t NOT be pretty about it. Like good filming technique is so expected, it’s part of the DNA. In actually, both these stories might have been served better if the filming were more gritty and raw, sticky, like BLs from Taiwan or the Philippines, but Japan (like Korea) doesn’t do that.

3. Seven Days

Never doubt my ability to recommend this show. One of the best live action yaois ever made, with perfectly structured angst, fantastic characters and acting, and no problematic tropes (rare in Japanese BL). The leads have excellent chemistry although it’s low heat there’s still some cute mutual kisses.

Seven Days pretty much used the original manga as a storyboard with just a few exceptions. And yet because it takes itself and it’s characters seriously (this in not a slapstick JBL) it’s softer and less cartoony than most Japanese live action yaoi. The color pallet is muted, and staging and farming is almsot too simplistic but somehow smooth and organic, rather than choppy or stilted. It looks genuine, not fantastical (see Korea coming up). The cuts are gentle with us, it never feels hurried or rushed, even though this is not a very long piece. It’s classy without being in your face about it.

This is spot on cinematography entirely subsumed by a story. It’s point (if ti can be said to have one) is that it doesn’t have a point of view, and therefore the story just shines. Never once will you feel thrown out by a perfect shot, and yet, every shot is perfect. This is cinema FOR story. This director trusted the script and the actors implicitly and did not feel the need to do anything fancy, which is, in and of itself, remarkable. This is like a perfectly executed piece of sushi. It doesn’t need anything, no sauce, no seasoning. The filming itself relishes its own simplistically.

I actually picked these first 3 BLs intentionally, and all from Japan. Because I feel like they kind of show the range of Japanese cinema has when it is being subtle. By which I mean less derivative of manga and owing much less slapstick. (See something like My Love Mix Up.)

So now let’s move into the relm of manga filming styles.

4. Minato’s Laundromat AKA Minato Shouji Koin Randorii

As of writing this post this show hasn’t ended yet, so not review, you can read my watch along here. But I am still picking it on the basis of the way they use doorways and transitional spaces to represent where the characters are in their different life stages and emotional development (and how they flipped that at the end).

Also this BL is cribbed directly from the manga, shot for shot in places.

This show is an exploration of how maturity is defined under the contest of an age gap romance, roles in society, and liminality - crossing the threshold form child to adult, from fear of love to acceptance, from immaturity to maturity. The series uses characters in doorway, reaching through them, crossing them, and notions of inside spaces versus outside spaces to represent this. I talk about it a lot in my watch along so I won’t rehash here but it is actually BRILLIANT.

5. Old Fashion Cupcake

This show had me from the moment they broke the egg yolk with the chopsticks in the opening credits. It’s about a younger man with a long cherished crush on his boss (who is ten years older and going through a midlife crisis) who decides to save and seduce said boss with pancakes. It’s wholesome, comforting, sexy, and a very necessary narrative about still having hope, interests, and openness to affection at any age. It’s coming of age/queerness packaged in a subtle critique of expectations around masculinity and love and loneliness... and it’s beautiful. Full review here.

The filming style is very much Japan’s close camera work, super tunneled into spaces, confined and almost, but not quite, claustrophobic. It’s using that to highlight how trapped by inertia Nozue feels, and how trapped by his feelings Togawa feels. Nozue in particular is filmed at home hidden, hiding, in the dark, shadowed, and withdrawn - as tidy as his place is, it (and how he occupies it) is an extension of his loneliness and self isolation.

The cinematographer is using that in contrast to the moments of pull back and central framing when the couple is shown sitting and eating together, usually brightly lit, showing them both opening up to each other and, in Nozue’s case, to sensation.

The very final shot of the series, with the big cheerful window, and Togawa feeding Nozue across the table is a representation of how freed they both are by their acceptance of each other.

Not to mention the way the food is shot in this show, and how food and openness to new sensation are used (and filmed) as an allegory for sexual awakening (lust in terms of indulgence - I will never get over those hamster cheeks) and consequently (ultimately) fulfillment.

More on Japan’s cinematic style here.

6. Cherry Blossoms After Winter

Korea took on early Japanese sweet yaoi but gave it their signature softness and precise production style with a STUNNING color palette (beautiful pastels and sun-saturated over-exposure), manga framing style, some traditional BL character archetypes, that tiny edge of bullying roughness and out-of-control seme, plus FINALLY a palatable take on the stepbrothers trope and it was, in a word, classic. Sophisticated and understated CBAW is not slow, it’s just subtle.

This show is dream-like, as if the whole thing took place under cold water on a warm spring day, dappled sunlight slanting through trees above. Is there plot or peril? Not really. Do we care? Also, not really. Look, I can’t help it, I’m old school and so is this show. I grew up reading sweet yaoi, and this was THAT YAOI just on my screen. There’s no objectivity with me and CBAW. It’s a beautiful pastiche and I loved it for how it made me feel and what it reminded me of. It’s not flawless, but it is a wonderful experience. It’s like a Maxfield Parrish BL. Is the filming style serving story, I’m not sure, but it is serving nostalgia.

7. Color Rush

A unique paranormal twist elevates this classic high school drama into a pitch-perfect allegory for the queer coming out experience and one of the best BLs of all time (I will fight you on this).

It’s no accident that I chose so much Color Rush for my screen caps in the post on yaoi framing styles. It is SUCH a manga (yes I know, it’s Korean). The cuts from one shot to the next could actually just have stepped off the page. If Wes Anderson did BL it’s be something like this.

Of course the use of color is just phenomenal - the range of hoodies, and the different backgrounds. The marriage of simplistic wardrobe with simplistic setting is about precision not the mundane. How Yoo Han is using color to seduce AT ALL TIMES is intentional brutal as we are never to forget the threat this entails (our POV and this movie’s is entirely Yeon Woo). Color is the vehicle and the predator, the danger and the light, it is sexual awakening, it is being gay, it is embracing the monster within - right up to and including the color rush itself as something essentially orgasmic. I can tell you, purely on the basis of the fact that the manwha was in black and white, that this BL must be better that its source because it had color to use in its storytelling. Because it had color to play with. If that’s not the visual voice of cinematography telling me a tall tale, I don’t know what is.

I will never get over this show.

8. Semantic Error

Korea hit it entirely out of the Parks with Semantic Error by doing a university set BL featuring everything we expect from BL just done exactly right. It has Korea's signature quality executed perfectly, and added bonus good story, great pacing, stunning visuals, and fantastic chemistry. You cannot ask for more from a BL, let alone a KBL. And the film team was part of this.

Frankly I would have used screen caps from Semantic Error as much as Color Rush in that post on yaoi framing techniques, but I wrote that post too long ago. This BL owes more to its Japanese roots than any other Korean BL I’ve seen: story, characters, and filming style. That image above with the backlit windows and the empty classroom? Could have popped out of Takumi or Boys Love (would have been more blue toned though), not just classic BL but the beginning of BL.

This is another KBL one where the use of color, particularly contrast, is incredibly strong. In this one cool vs warm tones are tools for characterization. (Usually they are used for mood, but not really in this show.) JaeYoung is usually wearing warm tones or shot in warm lighting and with warm backgrounds (reds, oranges, yellows), except when he enters SangWoo’s space. SangWoo is the opposite, almost always in cool tones and lighting (greens, blues, purples). So we get this fire and ice contrast between the two of them, with the lighting playing up who is “winning” the argument or the intimacy levels by being either warm or cool (or transitioning between them in the course of the shot). When JaeYoung manages to crumble SangWoo’s defensives, it gets warmer, when SangWoo is in charge of the narrative drive, it gets cooler. It’s very clever.

I think Korea is particularly good that this tonal character association and mood enhancement because they use it in high concept Kpop MVs all the time.

9. Cutie Pie

Very high production and a lot of visual references to yaoi gave this show a whiff of Japan but ultimately it stayed firmly in Thailand’s BL camp veering from absurd to appealing to annoying and then back to absurd again. If you can roll with the arranged marriage conceit and very lifestyle D/s relationships, the chemistry is spot on even if the plot is naff and sappy and driven by miscommunication. Watch this one for the pretty, give it a pass on depth.

But if it has so little story for the cinematography to support, why did I pick it?

I like the setting chosen (it’s no accent this is top of my list of best Architecture in BL) but I also love the clean filming style, it’s very very manga for Thailand. Cheewin does this well sometimes (see alos SCOY). Not really the best BL by any stretch of the imagination, but there is something candy bright about this one that really harkens to reading yaoi, and Thailand just doesn't do that very often. This is why I chose it.

Wardrobe, setting, and color choices are all used to really highlight the differences between the characters in terms of age and life stage. Also Zee has really learned how to push his physicality since Why Ru U? so that his body positioning in particular just looks EXACTLY like the seme of some 2000s yaoi.

10. Until We Meet Again

UWMA is a work of narrative genius, and all the actors all turn in stellar performances, it is the best Thai BL from a storytelling perspective. It’s two interwoven narratives, present and past, of lovers who have been reincarnated in order to find each other again and forgive each other (and their families) for that past.

But this is a strange one to chose for this list, since the cinematography is workmanlike at best. There’s repeat cuts and other annoying tics, and general hallmarks of New’s style as a director (which is, quite frankly not particularly stylish). BUT, one of the fun things to watch for in this BL is how New contrasts central framing with peekaboo (AKA dirty) framing with regards to the two lead couples.

Korn & In, the past selves, are secretive, scared, and hiding everything. They are usually filmed with things dirtying the screen: walls, and other objects, so we get this voyeuristic feeling of always peeking around a corner at them, and seeing something we shouldn’t. The few times we see their intimacy fully framed it’s at night, staggered, and/or off center. This illustrates not just the secrecy but the instability of the relationship.

Dean & Pharm, the present selves, the camera treats as a representation, in part, of Dean having learned from his past not to hide who he loves. They are often filmed full figure, and centrally framed, full lighting, bold and direct, standing upright, holding hands, or kissing.

In other words, New is using framing techniques to highlight in a way the couples “outness,” the state of their relationship, is related to the outside world and also how they feel about it and themselves.

And there they are, my 10 picks.

Honorable Mention: Light on Me

The filming in this show was precision engineered. The frame was kept uncluttered, characters appeared exactly in the center, there was little visual noise, and the lighting was full on, even in night shots. To me this reflected the character of TaeKyung - honest and almost stilted in his mannerisms. I feel like the director filmed this series as if the show itself were TaeKyung: careful and clear and specific.

This may come off as one-note or simplistic to a casual viewer but it’s actually quite difficult to film something so precisely and still make it interesting to watch. It forced the viewer to focus almost entirely on the actor’s faces, their nuanced emotion, and their interpersonal relationships to the exclusion of all else. Lucky for us those actors served the lens beautifully.

There is literally NOTHING distracting about this directing style. It’s like the camera was a neutral white room, a well-lit gallery in which the narrative hung suspended for us all to stand and stare at in hushed silence.

I mention not so much because it serves up story, because it doesn’t, but because it is the opposite, it allows the story to serve itself.

All my stuff on the BL filming side of things:

Yaoi filming, staging & framing techniques

Favorite Uses of Metonymy In BL

BL Directors - Overview

Lighting

Diffuse point lighting

Backlighting & Silhouettes

Unidirectional focused lighting

Spotlight on romantic couple moments

That lens flare moment

Framing

Staggered couple framing

Linear cinematography + near perfect framing, in distance shots

Central Aperture Framing

Peekaboo Framing

Acting

Favorite Subtle Character Attributes

Ohm’s Acting

Gun's Acting

We Best Love: Seme/Uke & Sam Lin’s Acting Screen Presence (Charisma + Experience)

Saint’s Physicality

OffGun & The Evolution of Chemistry for a BL Pair

Why Nanon Korapat's Acting is FANTASTIC

Meta Post - All My Stuff on the BL Industry - Master Post talking about financing & production: This is a complication by request of all the posts and discussions this blog has hand on the BL industry as an industry, includes studios, production, country analysis, actor and fan behavior

(source)

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welcome-to-jay · 10 months

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Ranking Every Single One of Sissel Ghost Trick's Talking Sprites Because I Crazy (There Will Be Spoilers!)

Let's start off with Base Sissel. One of the coolest protagonist designs in gaming. Not too busy but the striking colors make it instantly memorable. The red suit + black shirt is sliiiick, plus the shades which are crucial to his character. This is a 10/10 design.

Now we have a smiling Sissel. Even his grin is just as sharp and angular as the rest of him. That is definitely a Cool Guy Smirk™. I'll give this one a modest 6/10.

This is a Sissel sprite we don't see that often, as far as I know. He's shocked, but not That shocked. With all the crazy shit that happens in his game, its no wonder we don't see this Kinda Shocked expression more often. However, with this sprite we see a key feature of Sissel's Shades, they can emote! Here they widen in surprise. 7/10 for a Surprised Sissel.

Probably one of the best "I dunno" gestures I've ever seen. Sissel is so cool he only shrugs with one hand. That open palm also conveys a kinda "well, how about this?" gesture. I don't have much more to say abut this sprite because its strength lies in its casual simplicity. 10/10

He's thinkin'. There's not much more to it. I really wonder if, between this game and Ace Attorney, the Capcom artists are tired of drawing thinking poses. That being said though, this is a classic pose, nothing out there about it. But that's okay, because Sissel isn't supposed to be an "out there" character. He has a bunch of quirky detective friends for that. 6/10.

Sissel is looking really emotional here! Emotional with which emotion exactly? Well that's one of the great things about having eyes and eyebrows (or maybe he just doesn't have eyebrows?) covered by shades! Because that part of his face is obscured, this aggressive stance could portray anger, surprise, or a secret third thing! Either way, you know it's a tense moment when Sissel loses his cool like this. 8/10.

I mean, come on. This one just speaks for itself. Bro is dumbfounded, flabbergasted, stupified and *looks at thesaurus.com* ...in a dither? Okay? Anyway, there's a lot to love about this sprite. His shades are doing the thing again where they widen in reaction so Sissel's surprise. His face is portrayed facing more to the side than usual to accentuate that goofy look on his face. 10/10 sprite.

Again, I have to wonder if Capcom artists are tired of drawing people sweating. Anyway, this is another sprite that's used during tense moments (other than at the beginning of the game, when Sissel gets really sweaty trying to get his bearings) so you can really feel how Sissel is feeling. It's hard to keep your cool when you're constantly being put in Situations, especially when those Situations involve Puzzles. 5/10, I don't like seeing Sissel sweaty.

Spoilers under the cut!

Pensive Sissel 😔This is technically another thinking sprite, but a much more introspective one, and I think it really works with Sissel's character. You have to remember that he spends the entire game dead, so he doesn't really owe anyone anything. But he still helps people out anyway, out of the kindness of his heart and a little guidance from a desk lamp. And he does manage to save a lot of people, not just with his actions but with his words. Ah, but I guess that's more about his personality than this sprite huh? Anyway, an introspective Sissel is a blessed thing. 9/10, because this sprite reminds me of some of the best parts of this game.

Hold on a mo', this isn't our Sissel! That's right, there's another Sissel walking around killing people while our Sissel is dead as a rat in a torpedo. And right after your brain explodes after that reveal, the game whips out this sprite! It's Sissel, but he's menacing! He's sinister! It's such a sharp turn from the other expressions we've seen from Sissel that it's hard not to get taken back. It hammers in that lingering feeling that whoever Sissel is and whoever this guy is... just can't be one and the same. Now both Sissel and the player have to come to terms with that fact while the game still keeps you nose-deep in mysteries. 10/10 obviously.

And that's it! Our favorite Sissy has to take a little nap now. He's a little tuckered out after being appraised by me for an entire post, I tend to have that effect on people. I really wish he would put his ass away though...

Anyway, thanks so much for reading all the way through this post! It was meant half as a writing exercise but mostly as a chance to talk about a character I really like from a game I'm really passionate about! Play Ghost Trick! You won't regret it!

#ghost trick #sissel ghost trick #sissel #ghost trick spoilers #welcome to jay

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unnursvanablog · 6 months

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My Dearest / kdrama review.

This is just my opinions on the kdrama My Dearest pretty much spoiler free.

What both stunned and impressed me the most about the kdrama My Dearest, right at the very start, was how focused it was on the ordinary people and how they deal with war. And what the war does to them. It makes it less of a war epic and more of a human tale of self-preservation and hope at a trying time. which I found to be quite a fresh approach to this kind of historical drama, although many will no doubt find it rather slow and dry in its execution and style.

The story is ruthless in its realism and harshness with how it seems to paint the world. The narrative is very willing to comment on several aspects within society that it tells it's tale, the nobility and their uselessness, the lack of care that a certain position within society seems to push into you for the people that live around them, as well as society's attitude towards women in wartimes and just their position in society both outside of that as well. The way it uses these elements to shape itself, the details it shares throughout the story is very tangible, interesting but also poignant. It is incredibly well thought out and effective within the narrative to stir up further emotions both with the characters and the viewers.

These are not the heroes that poems are sung about, but seem to be more everyday heroes of the common folk. Most of their influence is not great within the grand scheme of things, but it is the people who knew them who will always remember them with kindness and love. They are the ones who will tell the stories about them until they disappear from human memory and are forgotten.

At some point, despite their intelligence and strength, as the war and the hardships seem to tighten more and more around them, the characters seem to wear down a bit. But they never lose who they are, their will to fight but how they go about fighting, how they deal with situations changes a little. All that happens very slowly and works very realistically within the story. It's a really well-handled look at character, as well as how normal people deal with such situations.

The characters do feel sharp and manage to be both a fresh take on the traditional characters that we get in a Korean historical dramas, but at the same time they have quite a bit of the characteristics that we are used to seeing; Jang-hyun may come across as smug and aloof, and Gil-chae may come across as snobbish and somewhat self-interested. But there's a lot more to them and their flaws are very presant within the story. Overall there are plenty of multi-layered characters that make My Dearest a rather worthwhile and heart-wrenching watch. Everyone has something to say in their own way and all have some point to emphasize within the story. The story touches your heart from beginning to end if people just allow themselves to enter this cruel, realistic world with these characters as a guiding light.

The plot itself goes through its ups and downs, and it does hit a bit of a lull within the second half where the story tends to repeat itself quite often. Characters almost miss each other a few times over the course of few episodes in order to create tension and longing within the viewers, and since the story is already slow by nature it might make some people really struggle. It makes it seem like the story has lost steam and doesn't really pick up fully until right near the end. But if the characters manage to grab you and make you completely fall for them in the first half of the story, it's perfectly tolerable.

The story never seems to fall into being too epic or too grandiose in its approach to the narrative, as some costume dramas tend to do to make their heroes seem bigger. Much rather My Dearest seems so focused on being realistic and grounded in reality like it has a bit of an obsession with the human spirit and the lengths to which people will go to survive. It run through the very heart of the series. And the love story, which is really successful on its own, reflects that. It's very slow and down to earth and it's quite unusual for a kdrama in lots of ways.

The story takes its time, sometimes excessively so, and repeats itself a bit too often, but even if it takes the story a good while it manages to underline every point that the drama set out to make really well. The story always seemed to know what it wanted to say. And the humanity that this series carries with it and manages to reflect within the narrative does make you cry many times. It's gorgeous, it's heartwarming and filled with hope for brighter days that is always enveloped by a little bit of sadness.

#my dearest #kdrama reviews #kdrama review

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altraviolet · 1 year

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Haha sooooooo, I may have stayed up til 5 am finishing the rest of the fic…….. And then I had a dream about what happened next. The fic was so good!!!! The way you write Soundwave’s progress is just incredible, it makes sense. It isn’t necessarily linear, and he is trying, but he still has habits he needs to break, still struggles with quite a few things. And he’s come so far but it’s so so hard to see your own progress when you are first starting the process of healing. I think the next parts will have some set backs for him, but I’m excited to see how he overcomes them. I Heckin love angst and hurt/comfort, and I know that every chapter will be well worth any wait. Stories about healing always have me in a chokehold, and your writing is just so excellent. I’ll probably re-read so I can appreciate more of the details, as this first time I may have missed them due to being so focused on what happens next.

Oooh wow! I wonder what happened in your dream 👀 And thanks for the kind words! It's a slow, slow burn [actually more like a really reeeeeeeeeeally long fuse] but that is what TFP Soundwave needs UuU

So you're all caught up, good, good... I apologize in advance for having no upload schedule :'D My irl job is really stressful and I get writers block easily, so sometimes updates take a while.

Anyhoo, spoilers for The Echo Garden up to now (Ch 37) beneath the cut!

To answer your initial ask, gonna do a quick roundup of some seemingly random things:

1) I'm really delighted that in your previous ask you mentioned "So glyphs for Spark, denoting not just life, existence itself..." because that tells me that as far back as Ch 24, readers were getting the idea I'm trying to get across. Yay!

2) in Ch 37 we learn more about Soundwave's power. Kind of in oblique, scientific terms [which should get expanded on in the next chapter]. Relevant parts:

“Soundwave, it turns out, is an outlier,” said Brainstorm gleefully. “The strangest, but perhaps most powerful ability we've ever encountered.”

...

“He can detect and reproduce subatomic energies,” said Brainstorm. “Fundamental characteristics of the universe. No, of reality! The essence of matter distilled into sound.”

...

“We mean innate properties of matter. Intrinsic properties. Properties that define reality itself.”

3) Sort of an aside: I don't remember where in the fic this is, but Soundwave says at one point, "sparks are Soundwave without crystal."

4) Soundwave can only do his outlier power stuff with crystals and mechs' spark energy. I haven't gone into why [it hasn't really been relevant to the story] but I can tell you from a narrative/story construction point of view, this is a deliberate limit I put on him.

So! Soundwave calls himself "Soundwave" because there isn't a word for what he does. What he does is manipulate energy at a very, very fundamental level of, basically, existence. He can copy it, translate it, and generate an 'anti-soundwave' wave to destroy it [or at least, he could in the past]. Characters who can manipulate forces at a fundamental level can get wayyyy too overpowered really quickly, hence the limits mentioned in point 4. To Soundwave, sparks and emotions and databases and ship/frame/whatever data are all kinds of information, which can be organized and moved around. The emotions/crystals stuff purposefully parallels his canonical abilities/strengths that we see: working on decoding the Iacon archive, hacking, data manipulation, etc.

"Sparkpulse" is a really poetic and lovely expression for what Soundwave is and can do. It's not quite the entire picture but it's absolutely an appropriate invention given what the fic says =D

I don't see Soundwave as a character who's into the poetic [though I guess you could make the argument that "Soundwave" itself might be]. For him, the most accurate name would be something like Fundamental-Information Manipulator. Which is, as you noted about the English language, extremely limited and quite lol. I like the use of "Manipulator" as opposed to something more neutral like "Operator," as Soundwave always has his own goals he works towards.

That said, now I want to think about this a bit and see if there's something less clunky, but still illustrative of his ability 🤔

I hope this answered your ask! Happy to expound on anything if you'd like. Thanks again for the kind messages =)

#ask #ohnebulaprimus #echo garden related #soundwave #fundamental-information manipulator #xD

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astrxlfinale · 2 months

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HC; Paths embodied by will.

To truly break that divide and come to manifest, realize and harness these conceptual forces, mindset driven into the very soul comes as an essential element. For many people it comes naturally, it's their history given form alongside their sense of character. Caelus's perspective (similar to others upon multiple paths) becomes a burgeoning sense of complication on the other hand.

Taking his currently traversed paths, Preservation and Destruction are two elements that couldn't be further away from each other, seemingly. Yet, why is it that he holds a growing mastery over both? Whereas Aeons have to abide by their Primum Mobile due to their height, humanity and other lifeforms upon the mortal realm do not, being multifaceted serves as the essential curse and bottomless strength.

Caelus's key on this is defining and repurposing those very thoughts. For his particular branch of belief is what enticed their gazes to begin with. In kind, seeing how his sentient aspects are essential for weaving between these abilities, it also provided an impact to how he approaches the world as well.

Destruction being forged as a will to destroy powers that be. Power untamed, authority corrupted, delusions and sorrowful days shattered and devoured. For is lasting like a genuine virus are the source of calamity he intends to rend and tear with his own abilities. That ultimately goes for Nanook themselves in the end. The most important aspect is how it's never mindless. Driven by deep thought, a steeled resolve, emotion, what allows his grasp to be so profound is the purpose put behind it.

So how does Preservation leans into this? To see this cosmic land, so many of it's people to last. Becoming the indomitable will to shelter the weary. To temper and forge the essence of spirit, whether his own or others. To learn not only the value of creation, but of resilience, how the river of time enriches that purpose or valued weight of these concepts to untold scales. A lot of this is centered on the element of protection, but the ways it's exercised is vastly different from the normal version that's known.

In kind this enriches his world views in how he comes to commit to things. All of it remains nebulous, but when it comes a time to sharpen it, akin to drawing a blade, Caelus can enact upon the weight of those paths and their esoteric/Imaginary energies for power. This too falls into the wellspring of Experience and he beloved value for this particular.

He drinks deep from this, wants that understanding to lord beyond the plateau of intelligence and become ingrained to the soul. How it can be explained by his mind and his emotions alike.

This is where Path expansion shows it's stripes in not being easily perceived or realized. The understanding is soulbound, expanding the consciousness for that unintentional reach being the crux. For power doesn't demand recognition for power itself, but what attracts it is the essence of will and what it intends to do with it.

#| HCs #I enjoyed this post #It's pretty much to say that 'personality' doesn't decide a path alone #It's part of a totality. It's the call of those hidden sides of 'self' teeming with potential #that's finally shading it's particular color

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whiskeyswifty · 10 months

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am i the only one who feels like a lot of Taylor's vocal show-off moments (honestly all just her belting the lyrics) sound rather strained and are barely off her simply yelling? No doubt she can sing, but sometimes I see a video on my dash that has people hyping up her vocal performance and it is not all that impressive... But I don't know if I simply am a hater, generally not always impressed by belting (which is not the end all be all of vocal performances), or if others feel this way too.

I feels the same in the sense that while I enjoy when she sings a certain way that’s emotional or evocative of something, I’m never impressed by her vocals in the way that I think they’re extraordinary in talent or skill. I don’t think most of the (sane) Swifties would say she’s an extraordinary vocalist in the typical sense either. They are likely impressed by what she’s showing she’s capable of compared to her average vocal stylings, but not compared to her peers. The main thing that has historically been associated with the great vocalists of the modern age has been range, which Taylor has little of. She’s no Beyoncé or Ariana Grande or lady Gaga or Adele in terms of range and power, the kind of singers who are true natural talents, that’s for sure. But I’d say that’s not the only kind of vocal style there is, and never has been the only style.

Within different vocal styles, other artists can find their sound and figure out how to employ their voice in ways that may not be traditional, but are equally as effective and pleasant to hear. You can look at people like Phoebe and Billie who have a sound that’s soft and gritty at the same time, very emotionally evocative and delicate, that conveys the intimacy and melancholy they’re aiming for. Lana had a very limited range but within it she has almost a free form way of crooning that she distorts with echos and such to create a larger sounding atmosphere and voice than she has, and it suits the satirical motifs she is playing with. Doja is another, who is actively not trying to even sing in the classic way we’d call “pretty” but rather is playing fast and loose with her voice to emote heavily, mock, and even sing what you could call musical jokes by singing in whacky characters. There are soooo many others in this day and age who have carved out their own style!

For Taylor, I’d say her voice is definitely stronger and more defined than it used to be, and her lower register has grown as she aged. But it’s still a very limited range and she has very limited vocal acrobatics compared to others who can riff, make seamless jumps between low and high notes, etc etc. I’d say she knows this and has the great fortune of writing her own songs herself, so she writes for her abilities and has created a style for herself that she’s comfortable in. She can highlight her strengths, like her ability to emote, and stay in the ranges she sounds strongest, and so on. Sometimes she pushes up against the the boundaries of her range, and as far as I can tell she hits the notes fine, but they are at the very edges of her ability. That’s where the strain comes from that you’re probably hearing, and sometimes I hear it too. It doesn’t bother me as much, but that’s totally fair if it bothers you! Her belt is closer to a yell, I agree, but that’s also her style. She’s turned it into her style at least, the same way rock musicians have done their yell-singing in the past you could say. And that’s been an acceptable and enjoyable way to hear rock musicians sing for decades now, it’s just less common in pop. But it’s not always a style that works for everyone, for sure. It’s more of a strategic way of singing than any kind of extraordinary natural vocal talent, but being able to develop this strategic singing style is a talent in and of itself you could say.

Personally, as much as I love the voice Taylor has and the comfort it brings, I don’t come to Taylor for her wide ranging vocal stylings. I’d say her concerts are more sing-a-longs than going to hear her voice sing live, which is entertaining in how she uses it theatrically but not exactly impressive insofar as the range and power I talked about before. I can compare it to a recent Beyoncé concert i went to where the crowd was relatively quiet as Beyoncé sang because her voice is truly incredible to behold, like it just fills the space and the air and takes a hold of you like nothing else. You are there to witness and hear the incredible range and control that she has over her natural and refined talent. Both very entertaining shows and artists that offer totally different things for different people, but both of them using their voices to their desired effects and ultimately to achieve the same ends: both of them playing the exact same stadiums to sold out crowds who leave immensely satisfied.

#WHY IS THIS SO LONG SORRYYYYYY #anyway yeah I’m not a hater and neither are you anon #it’s ok to think that!#I try not to post negative asks but I think this is more just a discussion of her singing style #which is fine and I’m always happy to talk about even if my knowledge is limited as I can’t sing for shit #also I kind of rambled again beyond the point but idk #I don’t like saying she isn’t talented cuz she is! just in a way that might not be as obvious as hearing Adele sing or something

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docholligay · 7 months

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Ep 9: The Doomcoming

Hello! This is about up to Episode 9 of Yellowjackets, and ONLY episode 9 of Yellowjackets. I have not seen beyond the ninth episode, at all, and know NOTHING about this show. Please do not spoil it for me. Things that are spoilery in nature, for me, include: saying things like “Just wait!!” confirming or denying anything I put forward, outside information about the cast interviews or creator statements, leading questions like “Do you think “blank moment” means anything?” etc. Remember that Y’ALL HAVE SEEN THE SHOW AND I HAVE NOT. This informs the way you talk about things relating to the show. Just be really careful is all I’m asking. Also: If there is LITERALLY any stance I could take on this show or character that would make you upset, please just fucking block the tag

If you WOULD like to discuss the show and my takes on it, the Discord is right here! I don’t go there, so it’s a great place to get every emotion out.

Please thank @sailorsunspot and @moonlight-frittata for backing this odd way of doing a liveblog, and remember my tip jar is always open

This is such a strangely lighthearted part of what is such a serious and dire moment in the story. They are on the edge of total ruin, death and catastrophe, and they choose to throw a party. This is important, because it makes us remember that these are teenage girls, and at heart, they want the fun things that make life worth having. More than just being teenage girls, it is an essential part of humanity to have moments of joy and celebration, even if all we’re celebrating is that Mari couldn’t preserve the berries and so now we have alcohol of questionable quality and unknowable strength. The show is trying to tell us that no, these girls haven’t ‘lost their humanity’ which is not only important to what comes later in the show, but later in the episode, even, itself.

The moment where the girls all sing “Kiss from a Rose” is one of those moments where you see that the despair hasn’t won, that there is still joy and celebration amidst it all. IN their cutesy outfits, showing off their dresses, cheering the little romance of Van and Taissa, dancing, being the young girls that they are.

I would even argue that Jackie deciding she’s going to sleep with Travis because she is angry with Shauna, because she thinks Nat’s a bitch, because she’s so annoyed that she played by all the rules of being a good girl and it didn’t matter, is a moment of intense humanity. How can Nat be crying over a boy? How can Jackie be socially posturing? It’s because the show needs us to know for whatever descent is coming, that these girls ARE human, they have NOT lost that, they are filled to the brim with essential humanity and what is coming out here is not a discarding of that humanity but a distillation of it.

Even the little moment between Jackie and Misty, where Jackie is openhandedly kind to Misty, is there to show us that Jackie isn’t just a bitch, she is fucking furious with Shauna. It so actively resists any attempts to make these characters black and white, and as we wind down the season, it needs us to remember that these are people in their fullness, and disallow us to cast a villain.

#Doc watches Yellowjackets #Yellowjackets S1 e9

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solarmorrigan · 4 months

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1, 11, 20 and 35 for the fic ask game <3

Hello! <3

1. How long ago did you start reading fanfiction? Writing fanfiction?

About 21 years ago, I think! My older sister introduced me to ff.net when I was nine or so, when she was really into Yu-Gi-Oh and wanted someone to cowrite a fic with. She knew I liked writing and roped me into it even though I had never watched Yu-Gi-Oh and had no real intention of doing so. Honestly, I was just happy to be included

My first solo fic was a little after we gave up on the joint Yu-Gi-Oh venture, and it was a crossover between Buffy and Scooby-Doo. I made it about two chapters in before abandoning it on a cliffhanger, like a true fic writer

11. How do you come up with your fic titles?

They usually fall into four categories: one-word titles (I do this less these days, because I have 250+ works on Ao3 and I started getting confused about which single word belonged to which fandom), puns, lines (either song lyrics, part of a quote, or a line from the fic itself), and ones that might best be described as "If they didn't want me to give it such a long title, they should have set a lower character limit"

Some favored examples of the latter include "Beating Up a Teenager Won't Solve All Your Problems, But it Might Make You Feel Better," "Home is Where the Heart Is, and Various Other Colloquialisms," "Idle Hands Are a Terrible Thing to Waste (Or Something Like That)," and "On the Importance of Upper Body Strength, Physical Coordination, and a Continued Lack of Head Injuries"

I am not good at titles

20. What's your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

Oh! I was talking to a friend about this the other day! My favorite part is also kind of my least favorite part: the puzzle piece stage. When you have all the chunks of the plot that you need and you're trying to put them all together in a way that makes sense

As I described it to them: When it's going well, you're like "fuck yes, I am a genius and also invincible," but then sometimes you have two pieces that are shaped like they should fit together, but one has, like, part of a tree on it and the other looks like water or some shit and you're like "...well that can't be right," and everything is terrible forever

I love the feeling of everything clicking into place and realizing exactly how the story is supposed to go; there is nothing better than getting everything settled in the right order. It's a challenge sometimes, but that makes it all the more satisfying when I finally wrangle everything together

35. How much has fic writing changed your life?

Immeasurably. I've been doing it for... well, decades now, I guess. It's provided a creative outlet, it's given me a way to connect with and deepen friendships with people, it's given me ways to examine my own mental state and emotions, it's even boosted my confidence in myself and my abilities

It's been a defining hobby for so long that I don't actually know where I'd be if I'd never started doing it. Somewhere completely different, possibly, but I think I'm glad that I am where I am, overall

Fic Writer Ask Game

#hey-there-ghouls #answers from solar #speaking of 'if they didn't want me to make it so long'#sorry for throwing many paragraphs at you??

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depizan · 1 year

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And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming...

Just how does the Force work.

I find the Force and Force Users difficult to deal with because canon is (unsurprisingly) rather inconsistent regarding Force Use. Actually, scratch that rather. It's entirely inconsistent regarding Force Use.

The original trilogy treats Force Use as a matter of training. You are Force Sensitive, you can learn to be a Force User and do Force User things. I don't think there are any lines about relative strength in the Force (I could have forgotten, though), and there are definitely scenes that imply that the cool shit Force Users can do is cool shit any Force User can do. (The scene where Yoda pulls Luke's X-Wing out of the bog, for instance.)

The prequel trilogy treats Force Use as a matter of training and of power levels. Some Force Sensitives are stronger than others. Exactly what that means isn't clear, especially since even an extremely powerful Force Sensitive can be left untrained, presumably without being a danger to themselves or others. (Yes, Anakin eventually gets trained, but he was going to be turned away and we get nothing to suggest that this had any risk to it.)

Pretty much everything after the prequels (or possibly starting in Legends before them) does some version of the power level and training thing. Sort of.

Hell, even in the prequel trilogy, it's a sort of. We never get any sense of what it means that Anakin is so powerful in the Force, and he certainly doesn't come off as any more powerful than any other Jedi.

In fact, exactly what Force Users are capable of and their relative power in comparison to one another--and to non-Force Users--gets increasingly unclear, the more Star Wars you consume. Everyone has power levels and abilities according to the plot.

Which means that if you're a fanfic writer, you have two choices: you can also go with power levels and ability according to the plot or you can try to have some kind of coherent way things work. *cough* I may have just revealed my bias there.

It's partly me being snooty. (I like consistent world building, okay. I know this is absolutely the wrong franchise for it, but it wouldn't have to be, damn it.) But a lot of it comes down to my finding it easier to write when I know what the people I'm writing about are capable of. And that includes any characters with the Force.

The answer to what a character can do can't be: whatever the plot needs them to do (or not do). That doesn't work for me. Which leaves me trying to put some kind of sensible rules on a power that canonically has none.

(Or canonically has different rules depending on who's writing it at present.)

God damn space wizards, why do you make everything so difficult?

How does Force Healing work? Do you need to know anatomy and medicine and such? Can you use the Force to tell how things are supposed to be? Are you drawing energy for it from the Force itself? From you? From your patient?

If a more and less powerful Force User were both pulling telekenetically on something, would the more powerful Force User win, or does it not work like that?

Hell, what does being more powerful/stronger in the Force even mean? Does it affect what you can do, or just how quickly you learn?

Do Force Users have to actively try to read the emotions (and/or thoughts) of people around them or actively tune them out? To what degree are Force Users empathic or telepathic in the first place? Could they misread someone?

Which Force abilities can be used without training? Some? None? Any?

Do Jedi have to concentrate/meditate to pull off larger Force feats (like Yoda retrieving Luke's X-Wing)? Can Sith call on rage to do the same things?

Why can non-Force Sensitives sometimes successfully duel (win or at least hold their own) against Force Sensitives while other times it goes like Han trying to shoot Darth Vader? Is there an in-universe explanation, or is it all "the plot said so"?

Does using the Force come with an energy cost to the user? Does it matter which side of the Force they're using?

What does it look like when a Miraluka "sees" with the Force? Is it a kind of sight, or is it something else that's just called seeing? Is it the same as what sighted Jedi see (or "see") when they use the Force instead of their vision?

Does using the Force to do things a person wouldn't ordinarily be capable of, like jumping extra high or landing safely from a high place, still take a toll on the body?

Hell, what are some Force powers? When a Sith chokes someone with the Force, are they using telekinesis or is it a mind power? Is Force Lightning actual electricity or something else? When Force Users use the Force to hide themselves are they doing something that renders them actually invisible/camouflaged or is it a mind power? (Would a security camera see a cloaked Force User? Would someone the Force User didn't know was there?)

What range do Force powers have? Does it depend on the power, the Force User, or something else? (Assuming their powers even have a maximum range.)

It's like inventing a whole entire magic system from scratch!

Only worse, because canon (or once-canon) can both confirm and deny any choice one makes.

#Mac vs the Force #Mac vs worldbuilding

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wantonwinnie · 1 year

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I was fortunate enough to get the High Republic vol. 1 artbook for Christmas (!!!), and there were a lot of great quotes in it that I want to share. They relate to Jedi, meta, politics, etc. I might unpack some of them later or use them in reference to other discussions. Of course, spoilers ahead (including for Phase 1 material) if you wish to experience the tidbits for yourself alongside the art, which was also fantastic. The book itself was a great read, and I highly recommend it.

__________________________________________________

1. The Force made manifest.

"The Force, by coming through the earth, literally manifests itself up in the air and it can't keep a shape because it’s everything. Here's the thing about the Force--maybe it’s just my interpretation of it, but I thought it was something George [Lucas] told us back on The Phantom Menace: There was no light [versus] dark side of the Force. The dark side is part of the Force. What keeps it in balance is saying no to it, allowing it to do what it does, to warn and to frighten and to guide us through our dark emotions, and then you're using all of the Force, not just one little piece, which is where the dark side always goes wrong. They're only using a piece of it. But what [the Jedi are] calling the light side is the entirety of the Force. So, let's see a place where the Force is manifest and it’s everything. It’s good, it’s bad, and it changes every second. It can't hold the form because it’s just so exuberant with life and imagination."

Artist Iain McCaig, The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: (Volume 1) (in reference to his sketch of a planet where the Force bubbles out of the ground), p. 19.

2. Padmé and Darth Maul.

"When I was designing [for The Phantom Menace] there was no pressure really on Darth Maul to be any kind of icon. He was just a new Sith Lord. And as for Queen Amidala, it didn't matter to me and still doesn't if anyone made her the main character. She was my main character. She was the strength of the whole movie. And I needed someone that could stand up to Darth Maul . . . No matter how fearful she was, you can tell that she's going to do [the right thing], whether it’s going to kill her or not."

Iain McCaig, The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: (Volume 1) (in reference to Padmé concept art), p. 25.

3. Jedi, technology, and attire.

"The High Republic, in relation to the prequels, is an older time technologically, but I think it’s potentially a more enlightened time . . . It’s more evolved thinking in some ways. It’s like the Jedi Order devolves while the technology evolves. [Visually,] their clothes are a little fancier, and they're a little more celebratory. Even just the fact that we have temple attire and mission attire, I think, is interesting, because it suggests this divide that maybe didn't exist so much later on."

Lucasfilm executive editor Jennifer Heddle, The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: (Volume 1), pp. 29-30.

4. Jedi accountability.

Scott looked to the Stoics and the Knights Templar to help guide him, pulling from historical records that told of Templar warriors breaking their vows. "The other Templars wouldn't drag them in front of the master of the temple, but would just take them aside and say, 'If you're going to do this, can you not rub it in everyone's faces because other people might start doing it as well?' Or, you know, 'Are you sure you should be doing this? And if you've made that choice, think bout what it means for the Order.' I think that's how the Jedi would have been as well. So, we have Jedi who are perhaps not as celibate as other Jedi. And there's nothing wrong [with that]." . . . George Lucas himself subscribed to the same idea . . . Lucas noted [in an interview] that Jedi were permitted to have sex. "Jedi Knights aren't celibate," he said at the time. "The thing that is forbidden is attachments--and possessive relationships."

Author Cavan Scott / George Lucas, The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: (Volume 1), p. 30.

5. Reflecting the reader.

"Star Wars should reflect the real world . . . It’s a galaxy far far away, but it’s being consumed by people who are in this galaxy, and everybody wants to see themselves in a story."

Author Charles Soule, The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: (Volume 1) (in reference to diversity in characters), p. 30.

6. Queer representation.

Older was adamant that the love story arc should be dealt with directly, leaving no question in the readers' minds about how Lula and Zeen felt. It’s a welcome, straightforward approach to queer culture that has too frequently been ignored. "It’s so often just been the opposite of that . . . For so long it was nonexistent--across fantasy, across literature, across Star Wars, in everything. And then when [creators] finally started doing it, we did it very sloppily or just with too much vagueness or trying to hint at it. I have no tolerance for that type of stuff. I think it’s really cowardly. [In the past,] creators have failed queer fans by not providing accurate representation or any representation."

Author Daniel José Older, The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: (Volume 1), p. 31.

7. A Jedi's emotions.

"The Jedi aren't machines, and they're not emotionless, and they should never be emotionless . . . What they should be is controlled. They are passionate, but they control it, and the passion never goes away. Half the reason we love characters is because they are struggling with things. For me, the most believable and the most basic emotion for lots of people, myself included, is fear, because it’s driven us as a species. It’s basic flight or fight, and Jedi would have to make that choice every day."

Cavan Scott, The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: (Volume 1), p. 33.

8. Burryaga's lightsaber.

"I remember wanting the lightsaber to reflect Kashyyyk and Wookie culture, which is why it’s a more organic-looking lightsaber. I also had an idea--I wasn't entirely sure of his fighting style--for a shorter one. Then, if he wanted a broad sword, the hilt would extend, you know, for Wookie-sized hands. They ended up really liking how it looked extended and just wanted to keep it like that all the time."

Artist Jeffrey Thomas, The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: (Volume 1), p. 67.

9. Porter Engle.

"[He] wants to be friends with you, but it’s for people to get close to him, and he finds it hard to get close to other people, and it’s very isolating. He's a character who I love, and I think his design reflects that. He's more beard than man, but he's this Jedi that has been part of the Order for 300 years and has done everything. He's an utter legend. When he gets reactivated in the story because the Nihil come calling, he becomes absolutely terrifying. I don't think you want to be anywhere near a guy like that when he is [in active combat]. The sad thing about Porter Engle is that he knows that. There's a reason he decided to go be a cook . . . I wanted [him] to feel like a happy cook because that's the version that he really wants to be And that's teh version I think people really connect with."

Author Charles Soule, The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: (Volume 1), p. 95.

10. Preserving hope.

"The storytelling of Star Wars that we've all grown to know and love has been about the defending and reclaiming of hope . . . The High Republic begins in an era where hope is abundant, where harmony is abundant. The people of the original trilogy era are longing after something that's been gone for a very long time. And in the High Republic, it’s not gone yet, and then it starts to be taken away little by little by forces that confuse and frighten and terrify common people and Jedi alike. So I think the hope that's growing out of this story is: how do we preserve what we love?"

Senior editor Robert Simpson, The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: (Volume 1), p. 139.

11. Marchion Ro's relatability.

"Hannibal Lecter is scary because he's us, you know? . . . He looks like us, but there's something that's off behind his eyes. I have this term for people that you meet in your life who are just off: spider people. That was my inspiration. Bu they can also kind of turn on the charm when they want to, like flipping a switch, and it’s very unsettling and very creepy. The other word for them is sociopaths. SO I wanted Marchion Ro to be somebody who you have this sense of unease when you're around them, but you can have a beer with them. It’s more just like the minute that you're out of the room, their face goes blank . . . What's important for a villain is that you can relate to his motivations and his choices. This is somebody that you're going to understand and identify with in some horrible way."

Charles Soule, The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: (Volume 1), p. 140.

12. Star Wars design philosophy.

A key tenet in Star Wars design requires every hero, villain, ship, and place to be readable at a glance and easily replicated by a child capable of sketching only the most basic shapes. The densely populated worlds are often explored at a breakneck place, with little time to stop and stare. Behind the scenes, those working on vetting the designs for The High Republic adhered to a three-second rule, "understanding at a glance," [Creative Art Manager Phil] Szostak said. "Everything's got to be good or evil and it has to be read clearly," added concept artist Grant Griffin.

The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: (Volume 1), p. 166.

13. Jedi vector design.

Created for Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, this sleek starfighter was the inspiration behind the Jedi Vector, with one small change. Instead of a socket for an astromech droid, the cockpits of the Vectors are elongated to allow room for Jedi masters to travel with their apprentices. "The Jedi, especially in this era, aren't necessarily looking for a starfighter that's going to be suitable for war because there is no war, no enemy that they're fighting . . . It’s a time of peace. And so, I think a ship like the Vector is kind of appropriate for this time. You see it from a distance: here come the Jedi. You know, it’s not just [some] boxy, utilitarian ship."

Phil Szostak, The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: (Volume 1) (in reference to an unused Republic "skyfighter" sketch), p. 174.

14. The point of storytelling.

"It’s actually the purpose of stories, particularly the ones that are set on far-off worlds and strange fantasy lands . . . Number 1: We want to escape in hard times. Number 2: We want to have fun again and remember that there's fun in the world. And Star Wars, always at its best, was fun. And Number 3: We actually do want to talk about everything going on, but we can't do it directly. So, if you do it inside a story, it can't possibly be talking about you, yet it is exactly talking about everything--pandemics and genocides and destroying planets--in this world. You don't have to be offended by it right away. You can enjoy it first, which is a good way to teach anything."

Iain McCaig, The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: (Volume 1), p. 201.

15. Corellian ignorance.

The insurrection at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, directly informed a scene in Older's [Midnight Horizon] featuring a Nihil masquerade ball in Coronet City, as the upper echelon of Corellia show they are woefully blind to reality. "It’s a place where people are very much no on the lookout for the Nihil. You know, there's just a given understanding that the Nihil are not going to be able to get a foothold that deep into the core of the galaxy. And so they have been lulled into a false sense of safety, and because of that, they truly don't see it coming when that exact thing happens . . . That's very much a story about fascism and the rise of fascism anywhere, but including what we were seeing. Very specifically, there is this moment where they throw a big party and it’s such a joke to everybody that people dress up as the Nihil--totally out of touch, dressing up as the people that are actually taking down Starlight. And there are actual Nihil infiltrators in that crowd in the party dressed like themselves. They've infiltrated the police. They've infiltrated the politicians. It’s actually very easy for them to then just go ahead and rule there. And that's what we saw on January 6th, a very obvious and violent example of that."

Daniel José Older, The Art of Star Wars: The High Republic: (Volume 1), p. 205.

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