sorry i keep coming back to totk rants, but something that utterly baffles me from a game design perspective especially is

who, in their right mind, would think to put similar objectives with the same characters in the EXACT same place as its previous game when already reusing the same exact map (no, single rocks springkled around isnt a meaningful change, fight me)

like from a purely logical point of view its just ... not logical?? and TWICE so when most players will have played the previous game, so now that the exploration, which was the main driving point of it, isnt as satisfying simply bc you know most locations and what is what, the thing you need to do is subvert it as in you go to that location and theres something else now or something that leads to a new reveal, but not NOTHING either, bc you likely cared about what youd find- the satori mountain was such a cool mysterious place, so now you head to it to see what is now and its nothing but maybe an obvious treasure chest? thats both lazy (i realy use that since its way overused by people missusing it) and just ... it might be meant as a lil nod so that there isnt nothing at all but to me it feels even more condescending as if there were literally nothing instead

satori isnt here anymore? thats weird if its always been there, so you go find a cause, maybe theres a fissure somewhere you can enter a large cave system, an hidden entrance to the underground that reveals there is something corrupting the place somwhere nearby but not exactly in the same spot- make it into a bossfight at which end satori gets cleansed- maybe it got captured and taken somewhere else, to a place that was kinda neat but didint serve a big fucntion in botw like maybe it was dragged somwhere into the big tabantha canyon, or to the forgotten temple

you try to visit rito village but the snow and cold there got so bad that you cant even reach it without special gear, and when you do reach it its utterly frozen in thick ice and not a single soul is there, the perch of vah medoh is knocked over building a bridge as a subtle hint as to in what direction perhaps, its intriguing bc clearly they have to be SOMEWHERE, maybe they tried to use vah medoh to evacuate but bc its losing power and doesnt have a skilled pilot they crash land it into the mountains, now trapped there and due to the storm not able to send anyone out to get help, maybe some did but they didnt make it and you can find them on your way and rescue them, and bc of the storm being so bad no one can get out and no one can get in (except for our special boi linky ofc) and even after the storm has weakened they dont immediately go back and act like everythings normal, maybe theres an extra mission afterwards helping them rebuild the village but not exactly the same as it was but fortified, different to account for things like this happening again, establishing the crashsite of vah medoh as a second outpost, or a temple, to thank it for bringing them out of immedaite danger but couldnt go all the way

theres so many places that are so clearly modeled around botw that are entirely unused now bc they had to remove all things shiekah for no reason, the holes they left jsut being holes where somethings clearly missing or some chest with a gem in it while the new shrine thing is within view distance a few meters away, might as well have put them in the exact same place bc it really doesnt make a difference

(like alot of those ideas im using for the rewrite which changes many things but you get the point right??)

and its even worse imo with the building stuff, bc now you dont even have to journey there you can fly glide and literally drive there instantly like a giant skip button so you cant even appreaciate the way to it, you skip to one important part to the next

and then points of interest are REPEATED AGAIN, like with shrines and lightroots and settlements and big mines- that is the opposite of satisfying gameplay, you dont have to explore shit bc its all in the same place which is probably why they only did tiny changes to those few spots and nothing else bc they knew most people would run right to those so it gives the illusion of changes (which are half reversable or barely a change at all) and even those are STILL meaningless

its right up there with having even MORE grind with less substance to it than in botw, the shrines and krogs got a lil old but at least the environment, its subtle storytelling etc were something- and totk just bloated everything with more little meaningless collectables while not changing anything meaningfully (and instead pretends that some things where never there and those new boring things were always there)

more shriens with shorter puzzles or none at all, more krogs with the same reward system, over a hundred tiny caves that all blend together bc they are all so similar and you really only do them for yet another colelctable for old gear and ONE cool new one with a bad effect after which the things collected become uselessreally, souls to collect to buy you a single armor set, rewards being largley reused old stuff from botw (imo you should have a chest in your house, yes YOUR house, that got most of the standard versions of botws armor in it so you dont have to buy it all again??? but you gotta think of going home first and dont have to use it- make new versions of them alternatively so you can choose if you want the old one or new one and also LEAVE ONE AT YOUR HOUSE WITHOUT HAVING TO SELL IT SO YOUT INVENTORY ISNT AS ENDLESSLY SCROLLING AS YOUR STUPID ARROW BAR)

theres new effects from food and armor thats largely useless (like the attack when hot?? why wouldnt you you jsut combine an armor and a potion- put on hot armor and drink an attack potion? its way more efficient no?? idk i found it to be yet another effect thing to bloat my inventory especially when NPCs keep giving you shitty effect food)

the whole sonanium (zonaite?) collecting with multiple ways to convert it into yet another currency??? huh???? AND have it be the thing for you to autobuild with?? when you need it upgrade your battery which takes an insane amount of those stones?? wells, while finally an actual well are NOW ALSO LIKE A COLLECTABLE and im gonna take a wild guess that the reward is utterly disappointing too

the fairies are all blocked by much more annoying means than in botw (like i wouldnt want to carry those NPCs three meters away in their little cart antoehr time please) and the amount of material AND MONEY NOW you need is so much higher for no reason (if its their attempt to make the game harder its the lamest way to do it)-

all while instead of expanding on the foundation of botw they ripped it out to build a new one while pretending they are both there (im so so slaty about this .... a sequel like this should expand upon the stuff of the first game, both in theme, narrative, mechanics and more and not ... replace it with slightly different versions of it while abandoning everything established before and really only using it as a way to skip having to make you care about some characters bc you might still care about them from the other game)

i could go on, as always lol, anyway, i really really dont get why this got into the final game ..

I put my attention on this Argyle phrase and it can hide something interesting about a symbolism.

He mentioned dominoes, the piece of the game, and we all know what means when dominoes fall. One piece fall, the ones behind that one, will all fall too.

And that’s how the domino theory works.

Of course Argyle mentioned that because well Domino’s pizza is another pizza place, is all about competition. And is a word pun, since dominoes are the game pieces and they can fall, so domino’s pizza is gonna fall too if surfer boy expands.

But is probably connected somehow to the place where they go for help El going inside Max’s mind, because is the sign about the Surfer boy pizza in Nevada, that brought into Argyle’s mind that comment about dominoes (“ watch out domino. Your dominoes are gonna fall”).

And all the monologue happened right there, in a pizza place.

(Ps. Read the Alts)

So let’s repeat again what happens when a domino falls?

Yes guys…

All pieces behind are gonna fall too.

So by this little analysis: the first falling domino is mike and el relationship, their not sincere love makes the other dominos falling too (max’s death, upside down invading hawkings, the apocalypse…) you know a chain reaction.

And before some misunderstanding, no guys, I’m not blaming Mike for the end of the world, he’s just a 14y/o that still has to understand his feelings! As I don’t blame El too for the same reasons (i love both a lot, they need so much love) The situation was awful, they where forced to do something so big in a context where Max’s life was the priority and the enemy was dangerous af, poor babes. The blame is only on Vecna/001 and nobody else. But I think this symbolism can be super interesting. ST is full of stuff like this, from color theories to hidden objects in character’s room that represents them. (Oh talking about that I should finish my personal version of Mike’s room analysis!)

Hope i explained everything clearly, you can comment for asking something or expressing your opinion (no rude comments pls!)

Maybe I’m just crazy and I should sleep because is late here, so I really hope I explained all good.

Geto Suguru (q&a official fanbook) 

"We will finally put an end to the age of apes and build the paradise of sorcerers."

Age: 27 years old

Birthday: 3 February

Level: special level black sorcerer 

Enrolment modalities: scouting 

Technique: manipulation of cursed spirits 

Skills: extreme Vortex main technique (Maximum: Uzumaki); cursed spirit used: incarnation of Tamamo no Mae; rainbow dragon and others 

Hobbies/special skills: martial arts 

Favourite food: cold soba (zaru soba)*

Food he dislikes: none

Source of stress: ingestion of cursed spirits 

*probable pun on the fact that zaru sounds similar to saru (monkey) 

q&a about Geto 

Q: How did your character come about? 

A: I wanted to draw a guy with an extremist way of thinking. 

Q: What is the origin of his name? 

A: The ski resort of Geto Kogen. 

Q: What did you pay particular attention to when drawing the character of Geto? 

A: The tuft in front of him. 

Q: Can the technique of manipulating cursed spirits reassemble or unite them? 

A: It can, but it doesn't make a lot of sense to do so, because controlling the technique of powerful cursed spirits is more complicated, so it's better to focus on quantity rather than quality, such as in the extreme Vortex technique (Maximum: Uzumaki) which merges several spirits together to make a power attack. 

Q: Does Geto know Ijichi? 

A: Yes, but when Ijichi enrolled at the school Geto was already in the period when he felt exhausted, so I don't think they ever interacted. 

Q: Did he really go to eat crêpes with Mimiko and Nanako in Takeshita-dōri (Takeshita Street)?

A: He only ate a couple of bites that the girls offered him. After dropping out of high school, Geto did everything he could to get food, clothes and shelter without having anything to do with those without powers. However, he did not force the other members of his family to do the same. 

Q: Gojo is very popular among women, is Geto too? 

A: Geto is even more popular.

Q: Does he know the characteristics of every single curse he has ingested?

A: Yes. 

Q: How does he find powerful curses and vengeful spirits to use as pawns?

A: Kind of like on Suiyo Special*. 

Q: Is the fact that he calls those without powers "monkeys" due to Toji Fushiguro's statement "Did you lose to a monkey like me who doesn't know how to use sorcery?" 

A: Exactly! Only he was unconscious at the time, so let's say he absorbed the words in his sleep. 

Q: After Toji's death, what did the cursed spirit say that he can store objects? 

A: Probably "mother".

Q: Did his personality change from when he was a student to the time of the Demonic Procession (Night Parade of Hundred Demons)?

A: Quite a bit. Ever since he dropped out of school, he has done nothing but repeat to himself, "I hate the without powers."

Q: During the Shibuya incident, the fake Geto's hand moved on its own. How much of Geto's will remains?

A: Not much. It's like when a dragonfly keeps moving after having its head ripped off. 

*Suiyo Spcial: famous television series aired from 1978 to 1988, each time featuring an expedition to little-explored places in search of mysterious creatures.

(little clarification: English is not my native language, so there may be some grammatical errors).

UNDERTALE YELLOW TECHNICALLY NOT LIVEPOSTING. PART 2!!! SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT

part one here if you guys like my rambling

we're back! we must continue the journey after . killing a lot of people.

this reminds me of that thing in undertale with the uhh. lesser dog snowmans. HONEYDEW RESORT ENTRANCE!!:

interesting. i wonder who runs this place? it looks cozy

(will ruin the atmosphere via murder) oh my GOD WHY IS THE WIND BLOWING. thats horrifying!

What.

I KNEW THERE WOULD BE A HIDDEN ENTRANCE IN THE BACK AHAHAHHAHAH

oh my god

who the hell killed everyone LAST time???

well. not for long. (slowly pulls out gun)

you dont FUCKING say huh

how is coffee better than ice.... oh . it isnt. nvm

so wait why would i use the coffee ammo??????? is there a reason or

oh man, im so happy i finished that puzzle!

(realizes i have to do it again) fuck

we are struggling YAY WE DID IT martlet fight(?):

oh you poor poor soul

girlie we are a Homicidal Child

Killing you

WHY IS STILL TRYING HELP US. WE ARE GOING TO KILL YOU

unfortunately, yes martlet, we DO try to kill everyone

yeah

HER MUSIC IS SO GOOD??? BUT AHHHHHHHH WHAT THE HELL ARE HER ATTACKS AHHHH-

oh my god

it took me 7 TRIES!!!! YAHOOOOO.

fuck. she retreated. is that supposed to happen?? i feel like maybe im on a neutral route now. im not sure if she was supposed to retreat or not, she also mentioned how like. shes glad we attacked early cause she would've told us where everyone else is. you know what i think im gonna retry the battle

interesting... if i apologize multiple times i get new dialogue. is she gonna spare us?

nevermind it doesnt do anything special it just. skips her boss and puts on neutral i suppose?

im gonna try apologizing and getting to her LAST line of dialogue and just. shooting her . eheheh

update: almost gave myself spoilers trying to see if there were any strategys (specifically for the part with the falling objects. god i hate that part)

so i just wasted time repeating the bossfight AND almost gave myself spoilers!! ..uwahhh

so. since i wasted so much time on martlet. i'll give some personal insight onto how the attack is.

God awful

most of her attacks are easy, *especially* since if you look at the crosshairs, it shows you what direction the attacks will go in/come from.

so all you need to do is just stand there.

with the boxes, you just have to stick to the ground. its safest, just make sure not to get crushed by objects/incoming boxes. the WORST attacks in my opinion would be the feathers exploding into 3 extra feathers attack, and the wind attack with falling objects.

the first of the two is easier, just stay away from the big red feathers and treat it all like a bullet hell.

i still havent figured out a strategy for the wind attack, i honestly just hope i dont get a bad combination of objects and usually heal right before the attack arrives.

but, yeah! i also noticed if you apologize and then attack right after, she seems to skip a line of dialogue and also maybe an attack? its hard to tell.

so yeah! apologies for rambling

moving on!

i like the fact you can see flowey during this cutscene

too bad we. crash. the boat.

whoops

YEAHHHHHHHHH desert!

i'd also like to ramble once more; i like how all of these locations and characters clover meet are kind of implied to exist at the same time as the other monsters?

like, the dark ruins: frisk wouldnt encounter it because she never falls into the dark ruins.

the other part of snowdin? it makes sense it exists; we took a different exit out of the ruins, and if you look at the base game, you can overlook a HUGE forest. who knows how many more monsters there are around?

i think im gonna feel the worst about killing him. look at him. a little guy

OH NO I JUST REALIZED

HIS ATTACKS ARE AFFECTED BY HOW DAMAGED HE IS..

CAUSE ON THE ATTACK WHERE HE GOES UP AND DOWN THE SCREEN HE JUST. STAYS AT THE TOP WITH A SAD EXPRESSION..

NOOO-

also for some reason they remind me of. binding of isaac enemies. i dont know why.

one mORE thing i'd like to wonder: where is mo????

is mo gonna like.. come back? im just curious cause like he got a whole intro, theme song, everything. so surely hes gonna come back right??

you've gotta be kidding me

this. this is just sad.

the singular tree in the desert

on a lighter note i love the sprite artwork though!!!

OH MY GOD MO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MO- DID HE JUST RIP OFF HIS SLEEVES??

hes like. trying so hard to be cool. and its kind of cool in a way if that makes any sense at all

hell yeah mo time

wait does he know we killed everyone

hell yeah mo

love how he doesnt care that he killed everyone he just wants money. i love mo. fuck i do NOT want to kill him

damn i just realized he leaves when you buy his stock. i wonder if maybe on a pacifist route that'd be how you befriend him?

too bad he's gonna. erm. probably die. damn i do not wanna kill him

i have one again reached my image limit so i am taking a break. thats all folks! hope you enjoy my ramblings

OBJECTION (TANGO) (MATTY HEALY X READER)

Author’s Note: I haven’t written fanfiction in at least five years but I’ve been listening to Objection (Tango) by Shakira a lot lately and I’ve been dying to read some good angst based on that song. I couldn’t find it so here I go. I hope you enjoy it, loves. If you have requests, feel free to send them in.

Info: reader insert, use of Y/N, angst, hurt/comfort, presumed unrequited love, friends to lovers, jealousy, swearing, immature characters.

Word count: 3K

----

Y/N’s POV:

It's not her fault that she's so irresistible. Matty was sitting in the corner with Willa, her hand rested on his knee. He was hanging on to every word that fell from her lips. When he introduced her to our friend group, I never thought being around them would be so hard.

You see, Matty and I have always been friends. Friends, nothing else. We were neighbours as kids, and even roommates while the guys were recording their debut album. I developed the worst crush on his during Year 11, and it’s always been hopeless. I was dropping hints for a while but after never receiving a reaction, I gave up and resolved to repress my romantic feelings in order to save our friendship.

Matty met Willa a few weeks ago, and he was immediately smitten. Their relationship is flirty, he’s calling her baby every now and then, and once. they left the party together and she came to breakfast wearing the same clothes as the night before. A few weeks ago, our friendship changed as well. Every twenty seconds he repeats her name, I feel like we talk about nothing but her. ‘Willa got a promotion this week.’ (Thanks for asking, Matty, I did get the raise I wanted.) ‘Willa is seeing her folks this weekend; my plans are going down the drain now.’ (Yeah, just like mine when you promised a film night like the ones we used to have when we were living together but you went out with her instead and I had to find out through Instagram stories that you were, in fact, not coming.) ‘Willa and I are... Willa and I went to... Willa said... Willa thinks... Willa wants... Willa told me to...’ and so on, all the time.

He’s never asking about me anymore. He used to be so caring, helping me with grief, heartbreak, disappointment, anxiety and everything in-between and now he doesn't know anything about what’s been going on with me in the past few months. He memorises her every word but when it comes to me, he doesn't care. Not anymore. We used to stay up all night discussing politics, love, music and art but his vocabulary is reduced to one word now: Willa.

It's not her fault that she's so irresistible, I have to remind myself once again. Matty and I are not an item, we’ve never been one. She hasn’t done anything wrong, she’s just a girl my crush had fallen head over heels in love with.

‘Y/N,’ Ross startled me ‘are you okay? You seem out of it.’

‘What? Yeah, it’s just a headache... I was thinking of heading home actually.’

‘You sure?’ he did not look convinced but he didn’t push it.

Matty was my ride home but he was busy a few minutes ago, and now I couldn’t even find them in the corner anymore. It took me a second to notice the curly head on the dance floor. I wish there was a chance for him and me but there never was, so I just wish I could find a place to be away from here.

‘Pretty sure... Say bye to Matty and the boys for me, will you?’

The April night air was still cool, pinching my skin through my thin sweater. I shivered as the foul smell on the underground station hit me walking down the stairs.

...

The morning light streams through my window. I’ve been laying awake since 6 am, despite getting home at two in the morning. I have to put a stop to this. If I cannot handle my best friend getting into a relationship, I’m going to ruin both myself and our friendship.

When Matty called that afternoon to ask why I disappeared so early, I lied through my teeth, and gave the performance of my life pretending to be okay. He said he was worried, asked why I wouldn’t tell him I wanted to leave, and I didn’t have the heart to tell him I didn’t think he’d care. Lately, when it comes to me, he doesn't care.

...

It’s been two weeks since that party, and we are in the club again. I had an exhausting day at the office, we are in the finish line for publishing a novel that is supposed to be one of our best sellers this year, so all I wanted today was a bath and my bed but here I am because Matty asked me to come. But he has yet to say hi, or acknowledge my arrival in any way. I slip away to the bathroom, and when I’m done a familiar face is waiting for me by the basins.

‘I know what you’re up to,’ Willa says.

‘What do you mean?’

‘I’ve seen you eyeing Matty.’

‘Oh. Listen, I --’

‘If he wanted you, he’d have made a move a long time ago. He didn’t, and it’s no surprise.’

‘We’re just friends,’ but I wish we weren’t.

‘And it stays that way,’ she’s gone as soon as she’s said that.

She’s right, in a way. This is pathetic, and sardonic! It’s sadistic and psychotic of me to hold onto Matty in a romantic light. Of course, we can never be anything more. He’s made that clear through his actions - inactions -, and I just can’t seem to listen. Even tonight, he hardly even looked my way, while talking to nearly everyone in the group. I don't wanna the be the exception to get a bit of his attention anymore.

...

I am done with Matty Healy. I am done with him, Willa, London, and everything that reminds me of them. Today was a big day for me. It was the publication day of the first novel I worked on as an editor. It debuted as number 7 on The Sunday Times Bestseller, the critiques loved it, and the even was wonderful. Better than expected, in fact. My boss pulled me aside to let me know there was an opening for a higher position in the publishing house’s NYC office, and she’d give me a recommendation if I applied.

At that moment, I brushed it off. But now, standing on the kerb, drenched, my shoes soaked through, my feet frozen, and my heart broken, it does seem appealing, much-needed even. Matty promised to pick me up from the party and take me out to celebrate, just like we celebrated his album releases but it’s been 45 minutes and he didn’t show up. It started raining heavily a while ago, although it seemed to be calming down. A car turned onto the street but my heart sunk when I noticed that it is indeed familiar but it’s not Matty’s. It stopped in front of me, and the window rolled down.

‘Sorry, Y/N,’ Ross said cautiously ‘Matty couldn’t make it. He asked me to come and drop you off at home.’

The ride home was silent. Ross concentrated on the road, and I was busy forwarding my CV and wording my cover letter regarding the NYC position. Apart from Matty, our friend group, and the few friends I made at work I haven’t had anyone else in England for a long time. My university friends all went on to pursue careers in other parts of the UK or abroad, my parents are gone and it’s been two years since my last proper relationship. If Matty and Willa got together, I would no longer have a space in their life, surely, I wouldn't be welcome after what happened at the last party. It would be better this way; I wished I could find a place to be away from here, and it appeared. I've got to get away.

...

I woke up to pounding on my door. It was 7 am, and I had a splitting headache. In the doorway stood Matty, for once the last person I wanted to see.

‘Sorry, love,’ he started ‘I was about to leave but Willa called me in a panic. She wouldn't say what it was but she seemed to have needed me. It turned out to be nothing, she thought she’d seen a rat but --’

‘I don’t care, Matty,’ I cut him off.

‘What?’ he seemed taken aback.

‘I don’t care. I’ve always there when you need me but lately you hardly acknowledge that I exist. I can’t do this anymore; I need some space. Please, leave,’ I felt my heart split into two.

‘But... love, I --’

I shut the door on him, and on the past. I’m done with Matty Healy, even if my heart isn’t yet.

...

I’m dancing my heart out. The music in the club is loud, I can feel it pulsing through my veins. I don’t care who I’m dancing with, or how we do it. It’s been three weeks since Matty had come to see me. We are at the club again, the majority of our group is on the dance floor but Matty, Willa and the band are sitting down. However, I have good reason to celebrate: I was offered the job in NYC! My hips move to their own accord, I can feel my partner’s hand rest on my waist, and he moves with me. I do not hold back. I haven’t felt so free in months. But I can feel eyes burning into me, so I look up to our table just to see Matty staring daggers at me. He’s tense, his hands are balled up in fists, and Willa is chattering beside him, yet he doesn’t seem to register it. He stands, and I decide that’s my cue to leave. I got dizzy dancing anyway.

---

MATTY’S POV:

It's not her fault that she's so irresistible. The light is falling on her just light, casting her a golden glow as she dances in perfect rhythm to the music. She’s dancing like nobody’s watching, like she used to in her room when she needed to relieve stress. My blood boils as the boy whispers something into her ear, then puts his hands on her hips. That should be me, I want that to be me, and she doesn’t.

I’ve been in love with Y/N since she was in Year 13, and she’s been blissfully unaware of it for just as long. I was never able to let go of her, the girl who’s been by my side through everything, and I never dared to risk initiating something she wasn’t on board with. Instead, I dated models, all of whom my mother asked if they wanted a family someday, and I never had the heart to tell her that if I can’t have that with Y/N, I don’t want it.

Willa, an attractive but uninteresting girl, kept talking, blood pounded in my temples as I watched Y/N rule the dance floor, and I stood up before I realised what I was doing. She saw me, and bolted for the door.

Things have been tense between us. Over the past six months, I found myself thinking about her more and more, I woke up covered in sweat after wet dreams of her, I kept finding dumber and dumber reasons to call her, hang out with her or text her. I was sure she’s been getting suspicious of me, and when Willa was introduced to me at a casting for our new music video, and she proved to be the perfect distraction. I over-emphasised her, every time I wanted to ask Y/N about a minor detail she dropped about her day several weeks earlier I talked about Willa instead. I didn’t give a fuck, and she knew but Y/N couldn’t.

I tried to hide my feelings for her though disguising them as if they were directed at somebody else, I might have still ruined the friendship I was trying to preserve. Y/N had a huge career moment, and I wanted to celebrate it as she celebrated mine with me: getting junk food take out, and binging pretentious movies, and talking until the sun came up. However, I fucked up. Willa called me because she thought someone had broken into her flat. When I got there everything seemed normal but she was upset, and we ended up in her bed as I tried to calm her down. I was a damn twat but I was already 35 minutes late and I couldn’t have her standing in the rain, waiting for me. I asked Ross, who lives near the venue, to pick her up. I went to her house but the lights were off and I didn't dare to ruin her night further by waking her up. I slept in my car, and when I knocked in the morning, she cursed me out.

‘I’m right here,’ Willa whined.

‘I know.’

‘Yet, you kept looking out to the dance floor. Now to the door, to be precise. Why are you so hung up on her?’

‘She’s the girl I’m in love with. I told you upfront.’

‘She doesn’t want you.’

‘And I don’t want you,’ she was pissing me off.

‘Wha--’

‘I think we should break up.’

...

Y/N is leaving for New York. I overheard George telling Adam that he can’t believe she would even consider relocating that far. I haven't seen her in days, not since she rushed out of the club but here I am, once again pounding on her door.

‘What?’ she’s stood in the door way in her favourite sun dress which makes my heart ache.

‘New York? You’re going to fuckin’ New York fuckin’ City without telling me?’

‘Yes, I am. I’d have told you.’ ‘When? You’d have called me from Central Park after two fuckin’ weeks?’

‘When it comes to me you don't seem to care if I'm alive or dead, so why’d you care if I’m in London of New York?’

‘What the fuck, Y/N? You’re the one who’s been off, and ignoring me for weeks now!’

‘Because I hate Willa, okay? She was rude to me, and every twenty seconds you repeat her name. I can’t put up with it anymore, you never ask about me but I must listen to everything your girlfriend does.’

‘We broke up,’ I said.

‘I don’t care. All the damage she's caused isn't fixable,’ it has to be. ‘But Y/N, let me--’

‘No! You left me in the rain on my big day for her, and it’s not just that, you gotta know small things also count. I got a raise, Matty, and you didn’t even know because you never asked. I got a raise, I got an offer to take a promotion in New York, I switched to a new brand of coffee, I’m allergic to the brand of shower gel I’ve been using, that’s why my skin’s been so irritated, I paid five quids for just butter at Sainsbury's, which is ridiculous, and you don’t know any of this, Matty, and I don’t know anything about you either because you’ve been shunning me,’ my heart ached for all the things, the big and the small, that I’ve missed. I was so stupid.

‘I’m so--’

‘I'm tired of this triangle, I love you but you don't even bother.’

‘You... love me?’ she can’t be serious.

‘I do, I have for a while. It doesn’t matter, I didn’t want you to know but I’m going away anyway, so there you have it, make fun of me.’

‘I’d never make fun of you, Y/N/N. I love you too.’

‘Don’t say that!’, she was yelling now, ‘You have no right to say that! You put me through hell these last few weeks, I thought I lost you as a friend, too, and now you pull this. It’s not funny.’

‘I’m serious. I have loved you since I was 18,’ I have to get her to believe me, if it’s the last thing I do.

‘You really have, haven’t you?’

She’s crying at this point, I pull her into my chest, and keep whispering ‘I love you’ into her hair until she calms down.

‘Why don’t you come inside? I can’t believe I'm falling apart in your hands again,’ she’s sniffling.

Once we’re in her living room, she’s looking at me sternly, staring from the couch.

‘I need to know... Did you really mean it?’ ‘Yes.’

‘Why? Why didn’t you tell me, and why would you do all this with Willa and I if you were in love with me all along?’ ‘Because I’m a dumb-ass. I wanted to forget you. I wanted to make you jealous. I don’t know. I just wanted to not feel like this anymore. I didn’t think you could love me; you never indicated it.’ ‘I did! When we were teenagers, I kept dropping hints, like when I kept referring to our hang-outs as dates to gauge your reactions, or when I complimented your hair literally every single morning for a year, but you never responded, and I had to accept that.’ ‘Y/N, I was a teen, I wouldn’t have noticed love if it slapped me in the face.’

‘So... will you kiss me already?’

...

Y/N’S POV:

Matty’s lips touched my lips softly. I reciprocated, tangling my fingers into his curls. His tongue entered my mouth, kissing me with conviction, and an expertise I didn’t possess yet.

‘What about New York?’ he asked, pulling away way too soon.

‘I haven’t given my official response yet.’ Actually, I got another offer in the UK I hadn’t considered before because of the Matty-situation but it’s the same position as the NY one with a much higher salary than I have now.

‘Don’t take it. Please. I know it’s selfish but I’m a selfish dickhead, asking you to stay here, with me. I promise I’ll do everything in my power to help you build the career you want; you like you helped me making mine but please, don’t let that be in New York.’

‘Matty, I’m not going anywhere.’

imagine if mc gave one of these to the brothers as a gift (or the side characters)

(They r called mini songe cats incase you r wondering)

I couldn't think of something for all of them but here's the ones I did do. Enjoy!

You walked up to [Character] holding something in your closed fist, “What do you have there?” They asked, “Hold out your hand” You said, holding back a smile, they hesitantly held their hand out and you placed a little fuzzy cat in their palm.

Lucifer:

When you placed the little thing in his hand he was a little taken aback. “What.. is this?” He asked, utterly confused “Songe cat.” You said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, confusing Lucifer further. “I see, thank you MC.” He would keep the little Songe on his desk and if anyone asked about it he would ignore the question.

Mammon:

“A gift for the great Mammon? I'm not exactly sure what it is but I accept!” Mammon always valued anything you gave him, even this little cat thing. “It's a Songe cat. This one matches your hair!” The little Songe was in fact almost the same color as Mammon's hair. He’d carry it around with him everywhere, just keeping it in his pocket, if anyone dared ask he would not stop bragging about the gift, he did that with most things you gave him.

Leviathan:

“M-MC?” Levi blushed as looked at the little cat you put in his hand, “It's a Songe cat.” You told him, “A Songe cat?” He repeated, “It's cute isn't it? It made me think of you.” You grinned at him as you watched his blush deepen since you just indirectly called him cute. “MC! You can’t just say stuff like that! M-My otaku heart can't take it!” Levi would get you a matching one, keeping the one you gave him next to his Ultra rare Ruri-chan figurine. It was of the same value as that figure to him.

Satan:

His face lit up when he saw the small cat, “Where did you get this MC?” He asked, “Online, Cute right? They're called Songe cats.” You giggled at his childlike excitement towards the small object. He’d buy a shit-ton of them and hide them around the house with your help of course, it was absolutely hilarious to hear “Why the hell is there a little cat in the fridge? No Beel, it's not food, spit it out!” from across the house. To say the least there is no way of getting rid of all the Songe’s. Satan would keep the one you gave him safely with his favorite book at all times.

Diavolo:

“Is this some sort of human thing?” He would be fascinated by it, “It’s a Songe cat! It's for decoration and stuff.” His amazement in the smallest things were so amusing, “Really? Humans are so fascinating! You come up with the cutest things, can I keep this?” He asked, “Of course! I got it for you after all.” Dia would show it off to anyone who’d listen (AKA mostly Barbados, poor guy).

Season Two Link Click Thoughts

I've put this below a cut because it gets long, but these are just my assorted thoughts on s2 in general. It's going to be waaaay more opinions than my usual speculationy kinda deal and contains spoilers for all of season two.

I hit character limit on my bullet points so I think that's my cue to leave it at that even though I have more thoughts honestly. I didn't even know that was a thing.

Pacing. I think pretty much everyone can agree that the pacing was... dubious. This series could have easily been shorter or had different meaningful content rather than repeated footage reuse for flashing back and overly extended fight scenes (episode 7? I think it was, was particularly egregious about this). I get there's presumably a fanbase for fight scenes and I won't contest that they were really nicely choreographed, but sometimes it felt like you'd take a break from actual events to spend ten minutes on a fight scene that didn't really... further anything else? I do enjoy recontextualisation and I recognise that that does require reusing some aspects of footage rather than entirely reanimating scenes when there's no need to, but at the same time, this is a series that is lowkey set up for binging. Flashing back so frequently when it's a series specifically engineered to make you binge it (hi constant cliffhangers) seems an odd recipe. I almost wonder how much of this was for production reasons, though maybe I'm overreaching here.

Linked to this is the overuse of cliffhangers. Season 1 had some cliffhangers, yeah, but it at least had breaks between arcs and more importantly, didn't repeatedly move the chronology of scenes purely to service an artificial cliffhanger.

Art and animation was mostly very nice. There were two episodes that did suffer art-wise (episodes three and eleven) with various off-model faces, but for the most part it was all pretty solid and I don't have any complaints about the animation. My favourite part of the art is still the almost rainbow outlines you get around objects. It made scenes like the Lu Guang speedboat one look gorgeous with the lights and colour on the water.

Mystery. Okay, so for all my qualms I genuinely think the mystery aspects were almost perfect. There were a couple of places I feel they somewhat 'cheated' but otherwise (the twin with the photo in the hospital doorway looking like tianxi in a close up shot. and then cxs/wj acting possessed in ep 6 but having their eyes appear normal at first and only having them changed the next episode. I'm fine with false negatives on the eyes when the audience isn't yet cued in on a possession, but in this case it looked like they were possessed up until the eyes showed otherwise)? Everything made total sense and tied together by the end. Even going into episode 12 we had a couple of gaps in scenes in Chen Bin and Liu Lan's death that I think it would be incredibly easy to overlook considering we "knew" what happened in them, but the hints were there in both cases that there was more to it and those hints paid off. Even Liu Xiao's identity worked just fine without the hat guy visual. All the hints were there about a younger favoured brother of the Liu family, Li Tianchen's new friend being a rich "Master Liu", him being abroad studying but stated as "soon to return" (which he then did). There are so many threads and they all tied together by the end such that even if I didn't always agree with the delivery, I do think this season is worthy of being called an excellent mystery.

Characters. So, okay, we introduced a whole host of new characters this time which was a choice. This sorta worked sorta didn't. The arcs of Qian Jin and the twins all tied together thematically and episode 9 was pretty explicit drawing the parallels together. However, we had characters like Qiao Ling not getting much new material at all despite a hopeful start with her scene about "wanting to be trusted".

Unfortunate implications (my head automatically goes to TV Tropes with this :V). Mainly surrounding the use of female characters as devices to propel the male characters. LTX is the most obvious instance (I shouldn't have to explain why), but Wang Juan was also treated as though she would be important and then largely shunted off to apply more pressure to XL; Liu Min's mum taking the hysterical role. On their own they may not be too bad, but I guess it's that it's combined with the stuff around Emma from s1 where the big 'twist' in the finale is killing her once there's a hope spot, and also added to how the mother in the Doudou episode is the one who's reverted to a younger age, whilst the dad is exhausted. Just a whole load of stuff that individually on their own don't necessarily mean anything but when put together forms a pattern I'm not super comfortable with? I do get the impression that show is well-meaning in terms of this stuff (QJ and LF especially point that way) but feel like it still fell down in a few places and could have done better with these aspects.

Lu Guang going back to save CXS confirmed. Admittedly I am incredibly biased to this type of plot, but I'm so glad they confirmed it. We haven't been given many specifics around when he went back from/to and I imagine we'll get more next season so I'm holding off judgement on all that for now (the paradox implications have me a bit worried but until we know more about the mechanics I can't judge). That said, I really liked the scene where it was comfirmed (the darkened shot of Lu Guang covered in blood my beloved) and am thinking that Qiao Ling having knowledge of Lu Guang's memories will mean she has to play a bigger role next season. There's no point in giving her that knowledge if it won't go somewhere. Relatedly, it seems like dying does pass on the powers and that's how we got LTX->QL and CXS->LG. It doesn't seem like Qiao Ling fully realises though if she has got Tianxi's powers (and it's been two months), but I suppose it's not exactly something you *would* realise if you didn't know what you were looking for or had previous experience with these powers.

I do genuinely think that this season was a case where the new characters were written around the existing ideas of the story and the themes which means they're interesting to analyse but I didn't feel like moments hit anywhere near as emotionally as season one? I think the parts where season two was able to approach season one's level of emotion were mainly around the twin's backstories. Meanwhile Qian Jin and Xiao Li's whole deal is interesting in theory but in practice I didn't have much reason to care for Xiao Li. Suffering to make the audience empathise only really "works" if there's more beyond that.

Lu Guang-Li Tianchen parallels make me sad. There are plenty of similarities in how they treat CXS and LTX respectively but I keep thinking of how their final choice in s2 is to either commit to preserving the past (Lu Guang with CXS) or to let go of the past (Li Tianchen with LTX and his mum). And how typically, clinging to the past is seen as a bad thing and letting it go a good thing. But in this case it's almost the opposite? I'm not saying it's healthy for Lu Guang to deny Cheng Xiaoshi's death, but I do think the story will eventually align behind him on this choice. And I think that Li Tianchen leaving the past behind in this case is more about trying to forget his trauma and in the process just digging himself deeper, deliberately choosing to forget the very person he fought to protect.

General s3 spec (keeping it brief). Li Tianchen confirmed that he obtained Liu Min's phone for Liu Xiao and it has info on it Liu Xiao needs but we still don't know what's on it beyond Qian Jin's comment about "family secrets". In terms of Liu Xiao himself, he didn't get much airtime but what he did have he made count. He mentioned about wanting to make "uncertainties into certainties" and the idea that there are "parallel lines". This pretty much sets him up against Lu Guang in terms of aim and seems to suggest our understanding of time travel mechanics is about to get a serious update next season. Also, the new "paranormal section of the police force" seems incredibly pointed. I don't really want it to get a huge focus honestly but with the way the scope has widened each season I don't think I'll get my wish.

Midnight burger posting at midnight

In an Au where the EX “rescued” Ted (A.K.A hostage/ forced vacation as Casper puts it) along with Casper:

Casper’s whole thing with Ted is to get him out of his shell (he sees himself in Ted and hates that he can relate to the helplessness of determinism and its shackles, for he too once felt the burden of mundanity)

Ted’s adamant that someone is coming to get him and almost ejects them out into space in whatever vessel the EX was driving

(the EX is very good at holding people in place)

Every time they stop somewhere they have to wrangle him in, I picture Casper making a joke about needing to get one of those child leashes for him

That usually makes him so offended that he forgets about escaping and they can carry on with their journey

Wherever they are Ted has something to say about the state and the use of whatever planet/space object they’re on (Ted propaganda, always some sort of false)

Very unwelcome in red’s rectangle (should’ve stayed behind but is very untrustworthy)

Ted’s wild west persona would be a priest with a past more sullied than an oil spill in the ocean.

Escalating tensions with his tries of descalations of repeating laws and penal codes, not really playing along but also not not playing along.

Not as smooth as Casper and not as gung ho as Ex,

Like Casper in the before Throwing-Ava-into-deep-space times Ted would be adamantly against any “meaningless” detours that extend their time together.

Helping with the jailbreak cements the fact that Ted is a traitor, and a bittersweet (at lest in Ted standards) reunion makes him finally look back in his actions, though outwardly he acts the same to most

(except to Casper and Ex due to the fact that being that powerful and that old you could probably read anyone)

At the battle of time’s melody Ted is solemn yet abrasively uncooperative

There’s three ending for Ted in this Au. (1.like Canon he wonders the universe, by his own valuation) ((2.he gose with BurtBurt to simply see what’ll happen, maybe to gain some semblance of routine he once had)) (((3.and most outlandishly, he stays and raised plant babies with a sentient bush and inter dimensional robot)))

Character design

BurtBurt - I imagine she always wears a fur coat, like most people of her race she has three sets of arms, one set is always crossed and another always has a pen and paper in hand. Her hair has cartoony swirls at the ends and her skin is a very pale pink

Verge - basically double trouble from she-Ra but blue, wears the space equivalent of any weather survivalist gear. Color blind

Minski - a more human humanoid spider, looks human except for the six arms protruding out the back and eight pitch black eyes. Waits finely tailored suits.

Shell - looks like a bush, has holly berries growing on them sorta like a birthmark or defining characteristic

Ava - how I imagine manuela dominguez form the magnus archives, white lab coat, long straight thick black hair, brown skinned.

Gloria - a Mexican Justina Machado, long dark brown curly hair that reaches her back that’s always tied in a bun or ponytail, her outfits are always pristine and bright as if she just got them that day.

Casper - Jake Johnson, grey hairs

Leif - just Leif

Random thoughts

PolyBurger should be a thing - let the employees and the boss and the regular kiss while HR looks on in jovial disapproval.

GOD am I sick of this. (Watch Out, MAJOR Rant Ahead)

Why do Chloe haters (nearly) ALWAYS insist on using this tired old line to ‘win’ an argument?!

No-one (at least anyone I’M paying attention to) is saying Chloe should get away with her bullying because of her shitty parents.

We’re saying poor Chloe has been a victim of character assassination, sabotage, purposeful vandalism, ruination etc by the very person who created her! No... not her fictional dad or mom... but a certain real-life Frenchman by the name of Mr Thomas Astruc.

If you want a somewhat over-exaggerated parallel, it would be like Da Vinci painting a moustache on the Mona Lisa, Michaelangelo chopping David’s ‘bits’ off or Geppetto making Pinocchio into firewood (I say this because there’s been TWO movies about the lying puppet in the last year. Hint: don’t watch the Disney one).

It’s like... I can’t even debate these people, because they haven’t just got the wrong end of the stick, we’re not even in the same forest!

My point is to those somewhat disingenuous individuals, and let me be VERY blunt here, because I ain’t repeating myself... (clears throat): 

Chloe’s Character Writing Has Been The Worst I’ve Ever Seen In A Professional Cartoon Show. The Fact They Utterly Destroyed One Of The Few People In Miraculous With Any Potential For Serious Development For Growth And Basically Replaced Her With Another Girl Who’s Just As Blandly ‘Perfect’ As Most Of The Other Females Demonstrates How Utterly Lacking In Ambition, Creativity And Talent The Makers Truly Are. (As If The Glaring Lack Of Other Positive Attributes To The Show Isn’t Evidence Enough) The Only Reason You Use A Completely Manufactured And Different Scenario Than The Case I Put Forward As Your Lone Defence Proves You KNOW I’m 100% Right. THAT’S Why So Many People Are Defending Her... Not Because They Think She Should Get Away With Her Progressively More Ridiculous Misdemeanors Inserted Into The Scripts To Convince The Audience To Hate Her More And More, But Because We Recognize The Less-Than-Subtle Route The Writers Have Taken In The Last Few Seasons To DESTROY Her Character, Her Role, Her Agency And Any Hidden Depths Or Layers She Might Have. This Is A Girl Who LOVED Her Daddy, (Occasionally) Valued Her Best Friend, Adored Adrikins, Confessed How Inadequate She Felt In Front Of Her Idol Ladybug, Made A Heartfelt Apology To Her Teacher In An Emotional Hug (It Made Me Cry :,/ ), Made REAL STRIDES With Her Behavior In terms Of Being More Independent Towards The End Of S2, Had An Intriguing Relationship With Her Favorite Stuffed Bear Which Acted As Her Conscience, Was Setting Herself Up To Be An Efficient Anti-Hero With Questionable Loyalties... And All This Fascinating Narrative Was Left To ROT In Favor Of Turning Her Into The Most Boringly Generic Baddie In The Entire History Of The Show. WELL DONE, EVERYONE. Then To Add Insult To Injury, They Claim This Was The Plan All Along And Her Rapid Deterioration Into A Teenage Psycho From A Standard School Bully Is Some Kind Of Bizarre Statement On ‘How Some People Can Never Change’ Rather Than The Obnoxiously Terrible Piece Of Hackneyed Writing It Actually Was. Damnation Arc? A Fancy Title For Utter Bullsh*t That’s An Insult To Miraculous Ladybug Fans’ Intelligence Everywhere, I Say. I Don’t Know About You Guys, But I Feel Cheated, Swindled, Bamboozled... You Name It, Or Just Thorughly P*ssed Off Should Suffice. Want Some Evidence For My Claims? Okay, Here Goes: Get Comfortable... Removing ALL Of Chloe’s Positive Traits And Redemptive Moments Overnight After S3. Pretending They Never Existed Or Happened In The First Place. Turning Her Into A Villainous One-Dimensional Sociopathic Object Of Ridicule. Giving Us Zoe Who’s Goodie-Two-Shoes Non-Personality Is No Substitute Whatsoever For The True Queen. Cynically Producing AN ENTIRE EPISODE in S5 For The Sake Of Retroactively Making CHLOE Solely Responsible For Adrinette Not Happening Sooner. (Thus Purposefully Exposing Her To More Vitriol From Obsessive Shippers) Pretending That She Had ‘Plenty Of Help’ To Change When The Truth Is No-One Seriously Attempted At All. (Even Saint Marinette ‘Encouraged’ Her And Good Ol’ Toxic Audrey To Bond By Being Awful To Each Other Instead Of Getting To The Heart Of Chloe’s REAL Issues), Breaking Up All Her Closest Relationships One By One Until The Only Person Left Is With Her Is Her Tyrannical Mother Who Promises To “Take Control’ Of Her Life Now In A Different Country That Her Father Has Disowned Her. (So I Guess Letting Chloe Get Further Traumatized By Her Main Abuser is Thomas’s Idea Of ‘Punishing’ Her... Great Message There For Children!) This Means Adrien Wants Nothing To Do With Her, Sabrina Has Been Unceremoniously Dumped And Even Butler Jean Has Been Fired With Little Fanfare. (Not That Chloe’s Had Any Interesting Interactions With Adrien Since S2... What Was The Point In Making Them Childhood Friends Again?! Her Dad Is Basically An Enabler Who Got Off Scot-Free Now He’s Resigned As Mayor And Looks To Have A Fresh Start With His ‘Perfect’ Adopted New Daughter, Sabrina Has Been MIA For YEARS And Only Gets Acknowledged This Once To Further Isolate And Damage Chloe And As For Butler Jean... Who?!) What It Boils Down To Is That Thomas Doesn’t Just Want To Strip Chloe Of The Bee Miraculous Permanently And Write Her Out Of The Show, Oh No! He Wanted To Transform Her Into The WORST Possible Version Of Herself To Try And Forcibly Extract Away The Last Few Fans She Has, And Then Give Her The WORST Possible Ending In The S5 Finale Despite Other Characters (E.g Gabriel) Doing FAR Worse And Yet Either Ending Up Getting ‘Redeemed’ Or Thought Of As Heroes(!). Oh, And Lila Has Multiple Moms Now(!), A Completely New Identity(!!) And Is The Main Antagonist From Now On(!!!)... I Think Her Superpower Is Dumbing Down Everyone Else So They’ll Believe Her Obvious Untruths. GREAT STORYTELLING, GUYS. Mr Astruc Is A Pathetic, Petty, Spiteful, Talentless Excuse For A Showrunner Who’s So Problematic To Discuss His Many And Numerous Controversies Would Take Another Post Probably Five Times As Big As This Already Overlong Wall Of Text, So We’ll Save That For Another Day. Good To See Though, That His ‘Brilliant” Scheme Appears To Be Failing And The More He Sticks Pins In Chloe’s Likeness The More Support She Gets Online And The More ‘Very Sweet’ Zoe Gets Hyped Up Into Something She’s Not, She’s Recognized As The Shallow Shill She Truly Is. I Just Hope Little Kids Aren’t Taken In By His Obvious Crusade To Make Chloe The Most Hated Teenager Since Joffrey. Why Couldn’t The Idea For Miraculous Have Fallen To A Guy Who Had Some Semblance Of Ability, Instead Of This Mediocre Hack Who’s Happy To Wallow In Stale Romantic Cliches, Underwhelming Superhero Fights, Uninteresting Lore, Non-Existent Continuity, Bbaadd Dialogue, Filler, Filler And More Filler, An Overabundance Of Characters = No Development For Them, ‘Special’ Episodes Abroad That Are Anything But, Prioritizing The Merchandise Above The Show ALWAYS, Allowing SO Many Spoilerific Leaks To Spread Under His Watch, Blocking Fans Left, Right And Center When They DARE To Question ANY Part Of His Writing (Because Apparently We’re Too Dumb To See The GENIUS)... And... rreesstt.

I am well aware that this post started out as one thing and ended up rather more convoluted than I hoped for, but Tumblr has always been a great source of therapy for me... so what better to get all my major bugbears out in one word soup of a paragraph that nobody will ever read if they know what’s good for them, before slouching back in my spinning chair with a glazed yet satisfied look on my face?

Nothing, that’s what.

Guess who said was not a writer and proceeded to write another thing?? that’s right, me. So, this is-

Forest song

————————————

The night was chill and the air felt cozy, I was with the chain sitting around the fire and telling curious facts about ourselves.

“Seriously? call Epona, with grass??” The vet deadpanned to the sentence Twilight had said.

“If we were in my Hyrule I could show ya!” Twilight defends while Epona, behind him, flicks her ears at the mention of her name.

“Does it have to do with that instrument you hang around your neck?” Wind asks curiously, slightly looking up from the second bowl of soup he has taken tonight.

“Yeah, kinda”

“You can actually call her by many methods, I, for example, could play the same song with an ocarina” Time proudly states.

“Still, grass is not exactly what is expected to be included in the ‘many methods’ of calling a horse” I defend Twilight’s curious fact about himself.

“I can get the notes on a recorder. Play the song and I’ll repeat it” The traveller says suddenly taking out a wooden recorder flute from his way-larger-inside-than-it-looks-outside pocket.

“Oh- no, I can’t do that, that’ll alert m’ girl, and she’s so relaxed right now, I don’ wanna wake ‘er up” Twilight says glancing over his shoulder to Epona, peacefully resting against a tree.

“Awh, kinda wanted to learn the song” The traveller pouts, lowering the recorder and putting it aside to take another sip of his soup.

I look at the wooden object and something passes through my mind; a memory of myself playing Zelda’s Lullaby with a beige recorder flute a few weeks before getting tossed in this adventure with these nine heroes. What were the notes again? Fa, La, Mi… Fa, La, Mi… oh yeah, I remember the melody, I remember song of storms and song of healing too… damn I miss my flute… wait… “Hey, ‘Rules, do you mind if I try your flute??”

“hm? You know how to play it?” He passes it over to me and the rest of the group’s eyes land on me, which I don’t realize, for I’m too focused in my excitement, it’s been a while since I played my instruments…

I take the instrument up near my lips and stop to think what I was about to play, I know quite a bunch of songs, what can be good for this occasion?

.

..

…

The air whispers and makes the leaves dance above my head, there is a faint mist that swirls and hums a melody that is not comprehensible yet not less calming… reminds me of…

Lost woods.

So that’s What I start playing. Saria’s song; the melody that can be heard in the misty forest Time grew up in, the song that the skull kid played when Twilight arrived to get the Master Sword during his journey.

My fingers move, making different melodic sounds with ease as I close my eyes and feel like I’m back home, annoying my mother with the same song time and time again. Once I finish the song I open my eyes and chuckle at the memory.

“How do you know that song?”

I flinch at the sudden Time’s firm, deep voice, that one that people use when they’re confused and will end up in a negative reaction.

I let out a quite nervous chuckle and begin “Uh- well… history says an old hero used to play that song when he missed a certain person… it’s said that one can still go to Lost Woods and will hear the soft notes of an ocarina playing that song, along with a childish laughter, in certain place… I don’t know which, though…” That was the longest lie I’ve ever made up.

Damn I wish I could tell them the truth, but the idea of them starting to question their existence for being just game characters for me… yeah, I wouldn’t like that reaction.

Time smiles softly and lets out a calming huff through his nose —Dad Time was tense, glad he relaxed— “A good friend wrote it… along my fist journey, I could play it and I would feel like i could hear her voice…”

“Oh… that why is called ‘Saria’s song’?” time to play dumb.

“…Yes.” His face is not one hurt, nor of loss… but nostalgic. Ouch, sorry.

“Wait- a skull kid played it whenever I entered the sacred grove that guarded the master sword,” Twilight started “that lil’ brat attacked me with marionettes”

“Wait wait wait- a skull kid played it?? THAT skull kid is still alive in your era?!” Time exclaimed… the others are missing the way a faint smile is twitching on his lips…

“YOU KNOW HIM?!”

Sooooooooooooo… the @kirbyoctournament yeah?

I gotta lot of characters. Like. A LOT a lot. So I really should have a character for this, but I’m actually Roleplaying with someone on Tumblr, that just recently submitted a character for it, and I can’t post about my best characters because the info segment will be spoilers. I have one particular character that I’m incredibly proud of and passionate about in particular, in my opinion he’s my bestseller, but I can’t talk about him yet. Hopefully he can participate in one in the future? I’m not putting my best foot forward with this one, but I’m still gonna throw her in.

This is Solostic, also known as Luz

Official Name: Project Solostic

Casual/Preferred Name: Luz

Full Ref:

Calculated Personality: A stoic and intelligent being, Luz speaks flatly, with odd verbal mannerisms, often throwing in more advanced words then normal, though not to the point of confusing common folk. (Examples: “Yes… I am still curious about the logistics of such an odd file.”/“It is feasible. But I’d need to run some studies, which requires a test subject besides myself, as I seem to be immune to the anomalous effects. May I have a volunteer?”/“These effects are quite unnerving… I will need to conduct further research before making a solid conclusion however.”)

Luz is very focused and determined, rarely ever distracted by anything but her goal. She has a job, and she will fulfill it, even when all odds say she can’t. Her robotic mind allows her to preform trillions of calculations in .001 seconds, giving her a perfect response to any situation she might encounter. She’s never lost a fight, and has expert level knowledge and skill with all weapon types. Her trusty blade, Sunburn, magically forms fire, and retracts and lengthens itself to create any weapon she needs. The only thing limiting her is time, but even that is more of a stepping stool then a roadblock.

Lore: Long ago lived the Ancients, a powerful race of magicians and technicians who created countless artifacts and amazing technologies. They concurred space, time, magic, and the very universe itself. They stood before all, a God above Gods. However, nothing they did could ever hope to save them from themselves. A great calamity of their own creation would come to destroy them all, and nothing they did was stopping it. Their one saving grace, a robot known as Project Solostic, forged with magic metals and an iron clad will, their perfect angel. Built to store billions of years worth of data, this being had but one purpose: save the Ancients. With the power to travel back in time by 1 week (requiring a seven day recharge), this robot could discover, learn, and return to them all the information they needed to prevent their ultimate demise. It was the perfect plan. The start up began.

And suddenly Solostic found themselves falling.

They landed on Popstar, having founded themselves not just miles away from the Ancients, but quadrillions of years away from them as well! The Ancients were long lost, their civilization totally collapsed. They didn’t know how, or why, or what destroyed the ancients to begin with. They hadn’t meet an ancient or heard an ancient or even SEEN an ancient. Trapped in a time where they had already failed their prime objective. They began to explore, to interact with others. They assumed the identity of a female puffian, as they found themselves more approachable that way. They meet new people, who called her Luz. She… kinda liked that name. But she was trapped, repeating the same loop of the same 7 days over and over and over again, trying to find a way back to the ancients. But no matter what, she always found herself falling once again, in the same place, at the same time. Over. And over. And over. And over. And over. And over. And over. And over. And over. And over. And over. And over. And over. And over. Again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again- for TEN YEARS she TRIED, and she FAILED, and she FELL.

No. She couldn’t give up. This was her one job, her sole purpose, the very reason she existed. She would save them, even if it took decades, centuries, millennia. Even if she had write a complete log on the life and personality of every person on the planet, just to have them forget it all when she jumped back again. Even if she had to sacrifice her friends THEM to the cause. She would do it. She would find a way. She had to. You are not in control. Her creators thought ahead, giving her everything she needed to succeed. Jet boots, glider wings, millions of Yottabytes (1 Yottabyte = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes) of storage space, the personality chip override protocol, and the emergency jump-back response incase she ever finds herself in actual danger. She’ll repeat the same week over and over and over until she gets it right. Recruit an organization, form a base of operations, steal high grade military intelligence. Mistakes are just learning experiences. If something goes wrong, go back. Try again. Prevent them from dying this time. Until the week is perfected. Then move to the next. She’ll crack this case. She has all the time in the world.

“And if, in that time, it ever decides to turn on us?”

“Don’t worry. There’s a built in automatic override. We’ll just DELETE it.”

(Hanahaki AU tag : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4)

Sometimes Eddie thinks stories are alive, somehow. Not in a gateway-to-a-magical-world sense; more like kudzu. Invasive, demanding, immortal. You think you’ve cut them to pieces and salted the earth, but they come back when you’re least expecting them, smothering any bullshit ideas about individuality or making your own way.

Like the story about the Munson boy: bad news, good-for-nothing, stealing and dealing, always in hot water with the law. Eddie’d tried like hell to fight that one, but it just came for him twice as hard. He clings to all the ways he’s not like his old man, but he’s still so shit-scared that when push comes to shove, the ways they’re different don’t matter as much as they ways they’re the same. That story’s got him by the throat.

And now the story about the other Munson boy, the quiet one: born wrong, they said. Wrong enough that they had to cut it out of him. 

Eddie loves Wayne, but he’s never wanted to end up like him. Eddie had foolishly—foolishly!—thought that maybe there could be something different, like maybe his life could grow in bright new ways up and out, stretching sunwards. Instead, there’s the mile-a-minute strangling vines, overtaking him and smothering out any hope of light. 

It’s like those older stories, the ones about prophecies, right? Eddie used to love those when he was a kid. He’d been obsessed with the library’s battered copy of D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths, checking it out again and again just to pore over the colorful illustrations of golden fleeces and golden apples and children born from eggs. Characters like Oedipus who tried to outrun their destiny could never really win. That’s a story to warn you about stories, for sure. It lays everything out: the futility of trying to run, and the way you’re going to try anyway.

So he should’ve known better, that’s all. Nothing ever really changes for the Munsons; those kudzu stories always come to drag them back into their place.

———

They run across an old-fashioned frozen custard place outside of Milwaukee, all neon and aluminum siding and servers in little paper hats. Steve screws his whole face up into a grimace. “Do we have to? I’m getting flashbacks to when me and Robin worked at Scoops Ahoy.”

“You what? Did I know this about you? Wait, did you wear—”

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, Munson. That uniform is the worst thing that ever happened to me.”

It might be the worst thing that’s ever happened to Eddie, jesus. He can’t stop picturing it. Damn his vivid imagination and active fantasy life. 

“Well, Harrington, I have the overwhelming need to put some frozen custard in my face immediately, so you’re just gonna have to deal with the trauma.”

Steve gets a frozen custard too, despite all his complaining, and they sit in the back of the van to eat. It’s a pretty day out, and the place is humming. Lots of families around. 

“So do you still have that uniform?” Eddie’s a fucking masochist for asking, but he can’t help it.

“Kind of? It’s…wait, did anyone tell you about Starcourt and the Russians?”

“Uh.” Eddie blinks at him. “Starting to think I’ve been left out of a few loops, here.”

It’s a good story. Steve’s not a very good storyteller, he keeps going on tangents and repeating himself, but Eddie likes listening to him anyway. It’s nice to see him waving his hands around, clearly forgetting that he’s still holding a mostly-eaten tub of custard, and telling an objectively absolutely buck-wild tale. Eddie only has to hide a coughing fit once, and he manages to drop the gross ball of brown-and-yellow plant matter under the van without Steve seeing. It’s a pretty decent way to spend an afternoon.

When Steve’s done, Eddie whistles long and low. “Steve fuckin’ Harrington. At this point, I don’t think anything you can tell me is gonna be surprising anymore. Like, if you said you’d traveled back in time to kill JFK? I’d be like sure, sounds about right, bet you had a pretty good reason for doing that.”

Steve snorts. “I think you know everything about me now, dude. All the important stuff, anyway.” He slides a look over at Eddie, suddenly weighty and serious in the way he gets sometimes. “I know there’s stuff you’re—stuff you don’t want to tell me. Part of the whole, uh, Eddie Munson thing, right? But I think—I hope I know you too. Who you are. Even if I don’t know all your stories yet.”

Eddie draws his knees up and rests his folded elbows on them, letting his hair fall forward to shield his face a little. It feels like there are so many important things that he’s trying to carry around under his skin, too many for any one person to hold, and one of these days it’s all gonna come spilling out, infinite and messy, raw and inconvenient, damning.

“Yeah,” he says. “I guess maybe you do know me enough.”

MDZS/CQL fic recs for the month!

within these walls, by Shadaras

- cql/mdzs. this is a remix of another fic but you don't need to read the original to follow this one, as it follows a character who gets less focus in the original

- about wen qing and her interactions over the years with jin guangyao, in an au where she's imprisoned by him and helping him, after surviving leaving the burial mounds

- a great look at wen qing and her choices, and what she is and isn't able to do to affect things, and what she's willing to help with

- 2k words in length

Bird on the Wire, by villainousfriend (katzenfabrik)

- mdzs space au about nie huaisang and his years-long project in avenging his da-ge

- a repeated theme throughout the fic is nhs visiting and talking to back-ups that had been taken of nmj's personality before death, and the way that this makes literal how HAUNTED nhs is by his brother's absence is just sooooooo good

- the worldbuilding is great, the things that are changed from canon due to this different context are great, the anguish and monofocus of nhs are great

- I AM ALL EMOTIONS ;_;

- 8k words in length

mutual aid, by verity

- mdzs wangxian modern-with-cultivation au where lwj is a trans man and wwx is a trans woman

- and ahhhh it just makes me so emotional about how GREAT wangxian are!!!

- wonderfully integrated characters/plot into a world they inhabit where friends and work and weird tastes in books are part of their lives, and also, lwj and wwx find each other and are immediately obsessed with each other, finding something in each other that allow them to best be themselves

- so many very funny details also, at the same time that it's many feelings

- 10k words in length

how Yao Yongzheng traveled back in time to save everyone, by ShippersList

- mdzs/cql time travel au fic where Sect Leader Yao travels back in time at the point of his death, and intends to Make Changes For The Better

- a funny and fun look at how things happen, with and without his intervention!

- 6k words in length

lotus blossoms out of season, by Kieron_ODuibhir

- mdzs/cql canon divergence au, where instead of mxy sacrificing himself to resurrect wwx, jc sacrifices himself to resurrect jyl

- jyl and wn and mxy eat soup together about it

- and jyl grapples with how she feels about everything that happened. and what she's going to do next

- and like. DANG I love it!!!

- 5k words in length

the mountain, by verity

- mdzs songxuexiao t4t4t modern au where they're grad students in china

- I had the pleasure of getting to see this fic as it came together, and the thought and care verity puts into their writing is always so evident in their beautifully written and beautifully constructed stories!

- from song lan's pov as he watches creepy stalker xue yang entwine herself into his bff (and object of pining) xiao xingchen's life

- sl DOESN'T trust xy, he DOES find it super hot to put her in her place and have sex with her, he DOES struggle to be fully vulnerable with xxc despite everything she is to him

- the vibes are so good, I love how real and present each character and their complex emotions about each other are, and I love the way the theme of the weather runs through the whole fic holding things together

- highly recommend!

- 12k words in length

@musicalisotope hi im going to. make this a post instead of a reply sorry i have a lot to say on this.

aru sekai is a really. obtuse series. none of its going to make much sense on its own. if it does i need u to share ur brain with me. anyway,

i think if u want to start anywhere i'd say either aru sekai shoushitsu, marshall maximizer, or laboratory.

aru sekai shoushitsu is the very first song its really long & theres so much in it & it sounds like nonsense by itself, however its a pretty complete summary of the whole plot. if u get lost once u hit the fuu lines & after dont worry about it we dont have the context for those yet. it's a lot to take in but once u move onto the other songs it all starts to click together like oh shit thats what that meant. it IS a lot tho. its also the most objective song of all of them; the rest are very subjective to their respective characters' views

marshall maximizer is of course the most popular song but thats not why im saying it. im saying it because it's the first time the concept of losing one's self/ego is really expanded on & thats a very very big part of the narrative. the lyrics it might be harder to pick up on that but the text in the background talks about it in a more direct way. its subjective to the chara's pov but it does a good job of establishing that "person" vs "thing"(no longer a person) concept. important to note this character is only an observer of that.

laboratory is similar its that same major concept of those who are still "people" vs those who arent any more. the difference here being its her experience as she crossed the line between the two. its a lot more direct than the other songs & its pretty easy to see the whole weight of the scenario & because of that it really helps put the severity of the other songs into place.

as for the others theyre very subjective & its a little harder to figure out whats going on. but in short kyuuyaku hankagai establishes its not just a personal risk & its a very long repeating event, shuuen touhikou is mostly to answer the question "well what if they gave up & didn't face the problem", oumen mokushiroku is overall that its pointless to take huge risks to themselves beyond the obvious, unplanned apoptosis is actually showing how the "doing things for yourself will save you" concept works, kanon gets into how precise their work has to be to get anywhere among other things, kugutsu ashura is a wall of words idk why u would ever start there its also weird bc she doesnt seem to be affiliated with the rest of them? an outsider forced to endure the consequences i think. i still have to dissect this one more for sure, & the new one yamete kudasai is kind of similar to laboratory but it shows more of the reasons people are pushed to the point of losing themselves.

there are. a LOT of very small easy to overlook details across all the songs. theres no one way to progress through the story since all the songs build off each other & show off different aspects of the plot & world they live in. & u also have to take into account not all of them are reliable narrators (im staring at the unplanned apoptosis girl in particular). theres also a LOT of details we still need expanded on to get the full picture but i think we're going to get more side context songs before magu moves onto to the fuu song to continue the order in aru sekai shoushitsu. the text in the background of songs that have it is also a major part of the story u cant just skip over it if you're trying to figure out whats going on. (this includes kanon. the original tweet with the decode was taken down but i still have the text saved.... somewhere. i will get that for anyone that wants it. very brief but it gives a glimpse of what the start of a retry looks like as well as why theyre in the situation in the first place)

VERY few people keep up with it as a series most people i see just think the songs sound good & leave it at that so i dont blame u if u do the same but its a very intricate story if u have the time & patience to work it out

also small side note magu's said all the charas have names but theyre a secret until later so they have to have some relevance with whats going on. it'll be a very interesting reveal for sure. we think theres 2 names in aru sekai shoushitsu (saginuma hisame & layla) but we dont know for sure who they are or if theyre even any of the girls in the songs. (best guess is the the shoushitsu chara & kyuuyaku chara respectively). thats not super important to know rn tho. also aru sekai series is a fan given name based on the first song since magu has never once talked about the contents of the series outside of what we get in the songs. (unless directly asked but theyre vague in their answers)

Hiiiii~

Let me just scream about fish a little hehe (praying that this actually sends cause my internet is so weird rn aaa)

I've read 3 of the Song Fish chapters and I love how different the story is compared to Deep Dreams and also how it's different. At first I thought that 'oh it's gonna be a complete repeat sort of' but it's been very different so far and I'm really enjoying it!

I love how you're writing y/n this time around with their phobias of deep oceans and large objects/creatures. It's so well painted and described through your beautiful writing. I can very easily put myself in their shoes and really feel their terror, it's fantastic!

I was so giddy when I realized that Deep Dreams and Song Fish are connected, like really connected with them taking place in the same place just some years apart. AAA I LOVE IT!!

I'm a big fan of what you've done with Gregory too, he might be different from what he is in the games but I'm just very happy that y/n has someone nice to lean on. I'm very curious to hear about this mer he's hanging out with hehe~ I'm so used to y/ns being very oblivious to everything, but oh my god if they don't pick up on the clues soon I'll rattle them into tiny bits!!

Oh and the boys, THE BOYS!!! Oh my god I loooove them!! They're so patient and sweet and so AAAA!!! You know how I am with big creatures being gentle and caring, I melt and melt and MELT!! They're so beautiful too aaaa man.. I love them!!! I love the scene where y/n is on Sun's back and he and Moon are looking at y/n waiting for them to calm down, being so patient. And the "now you're wet again" prkfjflfok aawww they worked so hard to get you dry and then you just undo all their work just like that! But ah man also what do you do in that situation really? Do you stay on the terrible monster's back or do you jump into the other monster that is the ocean? Stuck between a rock and a hard place fr..

I've been reading while out sailing and it's just THE BEST EXPERIENCE!! I feel the waves and smell the clean air as I read and it's just PERFECT!! Just wanted to let you know hehe X3

I cannot wait to read the rest of this fic, I'm loving it so far!! Sorry I haven't sent any comments recently, it's been quite a lot going on. Even though I'm quiet I'm still enjoying your work immensely! My gosh I'm enjoying it~❤️❤️❤️

Oh my gosh, I'm so late replying to this, ahhh!!!

I have to say, I was really worried about it being just a repeat of Deep Dreams, which I absolutely didn't want because although there are some plot beats that are hit like in Deep Dreams, I hoped that the new Y/N and character conflicts would be compelling and fresh enough on their own! So I'm glad you're enjoying it so far!!

Thank you, babe! You're making me melt with your kind words ;-; I've been having a lot of fun with Gregory and Freddy and just that human kid + bear fish dad dynamic!

That scene, ahhh! Yeah, not much choice there, especially when panic is involved! But the boys are ready to do everything they can to help their little human ♥

Oh gosh, I can't wait for you to read Chapter 5 with that mention of sailing! Heheh! No need to apologize either, I'm just glad to hear your thoughts on it now! Thank you so much, Meep! *mwah*!

So I'm bored and here's my theory about the dhmis TV series here we go (spoilers ahoy)

The three guys aren't the actual main characters

There's clearly a bunch of hints to something deeper (that could all easily be macguffins or red herrings, but still) underlying the show, but only a couple of parts REALLY stood out to me while watching the six episodes

First off, in the 2nd episode Death, the lamp talks to the yellow guy and says that his personal belief is that when people die, they go to the center of the earth, or at least below the surface, and they are expected to put on a performance. If they do a good job, they get money for it.

Honestly, I think that's it. Like, I think that's what's going on here, but I don't think Red, Duck, and the yellow guy have anything to do with it. I think the teacher characters that appear throughout the show are people who have died and in order to get some sort of reward, they are being required to put on a performance, and the three guys are just unfortunate guinea pig audience members. I don't know the significance of them supposedly earning money as this reward, but hey, maybe it's a river styx situation or something?

Anyway, whoever is running this show, the ones expecting these performances from these random objects singing and teaching and whatnot, whoever that is, they don't see Red, Duck, and the yellow guy as characters, just test subjects, guinea pigs, or just an audience for these performers. So much so that they're replaceable

In the final episode, there's a part where the yellow guy reaches the 'bigger boys room' and they show him that they are conducting an experiment on a lesser lifeform and subjecting it to what is essentially torture. They mention "there's no point learning about something without putting it to use" which could very likely have a lot to do with why the 'teachers' we see are all performers. When the yellow guy asks them to stop their test, they refuse and continue to torture the experiment subject. Deliberating on the purpose of their test, the other two say they don't know anything about their test subject at all, to the point that they can't even assume to know what emotion it may be experiencing or if it's enjoying what they are doing to it.

With my theory, I think that's most likely the representation for not just the three characters, but potentially all the teachers we see, as well. But this fully implies there is some higher being conducting this required performance...

When the yellow guy enters the room where Lesley is playing the piano, he hears them say like a poem, "batteries can be replaced, but some things stay the same. No matter how we twist and turn, we're still dancing in chains."

It certainly feels like that part explains itself rather well. Immediately after this, the yellow guy asks if Lesley "built all this" to which they give no answer but remark that they find this all funny.

And after he leaves, having learned that Lesley is up there keeping a house and dolls in place for whatever this is (which is also a reference from earlier in the episode, btw), it's shown that there's yet another set of stairs going up, implying that there's more beyond even Lesley. Plus, the way Lesley acts in that scene implies that they may ALSO be performing or expected to delegate performances to appease someone else.

Beyond the theory that all these different teachers are dead and trying to earn their way to the other side, I think it's also extremely likely that Lesley is...all of the teacher characters.

While I'm mostly running that theory based on the fact that the train in episode 5 has the same name (or at least the license plate with that name), I think it makes a lot of sense that this is all just one person who is expected to repeat this performance over and over, maybe not because they enjoy it, maybe not because they find it funny, but because they are required to perform to earn their way out. But they haven't succeeded yet or their time isn't up yet or the system is rigged against them or whatever possible reason.

I also like to think that there may be a more meta explanation, meaning that the performance is quite literally the TV show itself, and they know they have to perform something and subject these characters to this repeatedly only because they need to make content and that's why it needs to be "funny" or educational or whatever. It's an interesting thought, but that might be more meta than necessary.

(also the book was absolutely a macguffin and Lesley's promise to "help" the yellow guy in return was actually just to put things back to the way they were which was to have Duck switch the batteries back out and get the yellow guy to just shred the damn book and return to ignorance, he didn't actually have any choice in the matter, sudden brain boost or not)

That is my theory on it. And I genuinely think it's cool, whether that is what's going on or not. It's good stuff regardless. :)