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see-arcane · 2 months

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A message to all the assorted unscrupulous undead: Beware the Ides of March.

To everyone else: Grab your kukri blades, your bowie knives, your stakes, your bone saws, and whatever else you have on hand to appropriately accessorize with your new copy of The Vampyres.

The book is out! Loose! Running rampant and bloodstained through the terrains of eBook and paperback alike!

My beautiful little baby, toddling into the literary world to deliver havoc unto the dastardly bastards of the revenant realm. I’m so proud. (And so happy to feel the stress headache finally start to crack.)

Now that The Vampyres is out in the open, a brief FAQ under the cut:

Where can I get the eBook?

Check out the Universal Book Link (UBL) here:

It’ll show you all the places you can grab a virtual vampyre by the throat.

Where can I get the paperback?

For folks in ‘murrica, I’d say hit up Bookshop.org to go and grab it from your physical store of choice:

You can also just search The Vampyres C.R. Kane and see the waterfall of options. Not sure of the exact timeline, but it should be more widely available in the coming weeks. At least hereabouts:

Pictured: Places to potentially purchase a paperback.

Can I get it at my library?

If you ask for it, yes! You’ll need the ISBNs when filling out your library’s request form, so:

eBook ISBN: 9798218374594

Paperback ISBN: 9798218374587

What’s the status on that paperback cover business?

Current status is still ???

At least in the sense that I’m not sure what version of the book cover you might get at the moment. Original matte? Temporary glossy? Updated matte that’s here to stay? No idea at the moment. My self-publishing page shows the update’s confirmed, but the online stores are still using the first version as the preview image and I’m not sure when that gets swapped out. At least the books are all print-on-demand, so whatever you order, just know it’s not coming from some thrown-away backup heap. It’s fresh from the book oven press.

Anything else I need to know?

First, reviews are extremely welcome! I am running on negative budget when it comes to waving my little flag to announce that I Made a Scary Vampire Book, so I’m really relying on word-of-mouth if I want it to actually get its head above water. Leaving stars and comments wherever you can, be it in the online stores, the Goodreadses or Smashwordses or whatever else, would be a big help.

(Really though, I can and will dissolve into a puddle of relieved ego if I see so much as one (1) Nice Comment on Tumblr, my cesspool of choice.*)

*This is not hyperbole. I can count on one hand how many PROMOTION © ™ posts I’ve made on Twitter and have fingers left over. This novella is tailored to my fellow fiendish bookworms on here.

Second, to those coming by this stuff for the first time and don’t know what all this hoopla is about, a preview of my novella, The Vampyres, is available on my website. Give it a gander if you want to see under-appreciated classic supernatural bogeymen dropped into their own horror story.

Thirdly, lastly, vitally: thank you.

The Vampyres is a beautiful accident that came together out of an itch to rattle something out just for myself; a break from a bloated piece that had turned into a chore which burned me out and threw away the fun of scribbling. A lightweight read that saved me from being crushed by a cinderblock.

By the same token, the people on here have shouldered me up and out of the creative pit of thinking ‘This is all for nothing.’ For all that I talk of how much I’m powered by spite and the desire to Read a Specific Thing only to realize I Have to Write That Thing First, I’d be a liar if I said the kindness and excitement of the folks who’ve been reading my nonsense for (holy hell) TWO YEARS in the wake of the first big Dracula Daily surge didn’t have a major role in getting this thing done.

I did make The Vampyres for me. But it’s for you guys too. For everyone who saw one of my rambles or little fictions and spoke up to say, I love this! I was thinking this! I wanted this! Finally, finally!

When you crack open the cover for the first time, on a screen or in your hands, I want you to know I’m thinking Thank You at you. I hope you enjoy all the horrors inside.

Postscript:

If you want more info on other stuff I'm tinkering with, check out my website here:

#the vampyres #on its way to join the stab-a-thon #my writing #the vampyre #dracula #horror #holy shit here it is you guys

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maple-seed · 5 months

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Thrown - Chapter 45: Absence

Summary: Loki takes a trip abroad and longs for what he left behind.

Word Count: 2,059

Author's Notes: Hey everyone. This chapter of Thrown will be the last one posted until January. Holidays are taking their toll and my writing speed has slowed considerably so I'm going to take a little hiatus. My current plan is to start posting again on January 11, 2024, and hopefully returning to the once-a-week schedule at that time. Thanks again for your patience. Happy holidays to anyone who celebrates, and take care.

Thrown Masterlist Loki Masterlist

Loki didn't care for it, the Avengers compound. It was all much too pristine. Clean lines and straight edges. Crisp white and chrome and glass. Sterile. It felt lifeless, when compared to the meandering streets and stone buildings back in New Asgard. Perhaps worst of all, it was full of Avengers.

The tower had been superior, Loki felt. At least the tower had a certain element of grandeur going for it. He kept this opinion to himself. Something told him that may be a sore point.

This trip had been mandatory. There were things to discuss regarding New Asgard, but chief among them was the fact of Loki's continued residency. They called it a "review of progress", but obviously it was a check in to make certain he hadn't been using his freedom to plot some sort of coup. The euphemism was laughable. Loki wouldn't deny that he had progressed, in many ways quite drastically, since he came to this realm, but in what way could these men hope to measure it?

Moreover, he found it insulting that they believed if he had been plotting a coup, that they any hope of detecting it.

There had been interviews and meetings and endless questions. Thor had, apparently, written very detailed reports regarding the goings-on of New Asgard, and particularly Loki's contributions. While the descriptions in the reports were true, Loki felt they portrayed his actions in an overly-generous light.

Throughout the assessments and interrogations, Loki hadn't mentioned you. There were a number of reasons, of course. They would not be likely to understand the way he cared for you, and even less likely to understand the way you cared for him. They would wonder how it was possible that someone like you might love him. He didn't have the energy to explain that he wondered the same thing. They would suspect he had bewitched or corrupted you somehow. Possibly, they might insult you for your folly, which was certainly not something he would be able to tolerate. More than any of that, however, describing you to them simply felt wrong. You were something more precious than this. This trip here was a direct result of the most terrible period of his life. A punctuation on his misery. Even drawing the concept of you into this mire felt like it would sully you somehow.

And so he refrained from mentioning the source of his most drastic changes while here on Midgard. Thor followed his lead, and only brought you up occasionally, and then he only described you as their friend. Loki was grateful.

The days dragged on. Any time he felt that surely he had answered every question of every authority, there was someone new with something else they had to ask, just to be sure. And still that was not the most unbearable part. The most unbearable part was being away from you. This absence made him question how he had ever gone so long without putting his hands on you. It was ridiculous, in the basest sense. He had gone much longer than this without seeing you. He had gone a thousand years without seeing you. He had ached for you for months while standing by your side, but somehow this ache was stronger.

Thor relayed messages by text, and even offered to facilitate a call, which Loki accepted only once. The walls here were listening, quite literally, and there was little he wanted to say to you that he was comfortable having recorded by Stark. Still, hearing your voice had buoyed his spirits and made the rest of this trip moderately more tolerable.

One night, Loki dreamed. He was aware of the dream immediately. He was on the mountain terrace that your hiking trail led to, standing by the stream. The moon was bright and the stars were out, as they had been this past winter when you had brought them here. You were there, standing near the edge, looking out over the landscape. He breathed your name. You looked back over your shoulder, a smile breaking immediately. "Loki." It was only his name, but it carried with it all the longing that he felt. The two of you met and embraced and it all seemed so real; the air, the sky, your skin. It was an illusion, yes, but it was true enough for now, and he held you in his arms for the rest of the night, if only in his dream.

This morning was to be their last here at the Compound. There was another meeting, supposedly the final one, where Loki would be interrogated. Thor insisted that "interrogated" was not the right word. Loki felt certain that it was the right word when he found himself sitting at a glass table in some conference room, his brother beside him, with Stark, Rogers, and Fury seated across. Stark and Rogers seemed to be amiable enough, but Fury kept a stone-faced expression. Loki realized he had never seen the man look anything other than angry, or at best mildly irritated. It could be that his face simply looked that way. Perhaps having just the one eye was naturally limiting in expression. He and Thor should exchange notes, he thought. He was not foolish enough to say it out loud.

"I gotta hand it to you, Billy Goat Gruff, you're earning all the gold stars here." Stark wore that insufferable smirk of his. "What he means to say," Rogers, ever the peacemaker, cut in, "is that we think you've been doing very well in your time in New Asgard." "I'm grateful that my existence meets your approval." Loki fought to keep his teeth from grinding. "Oh come on, don't be like that." Stark closed a folder in front of him with a flourish. "You know why we feel the way we do. Before you showed up here in your TARDIS, the last time we met you were blowing us up and tossing us off buildings. I mean, you cut out a man's eyeball for god's sake. Completely unnecessary move, I might add." Loki looked away with a scowl, fighting back violent memories. "And now," Stark continued, "now you're carrying groceries and building homes and teaching underprivileged kids magic algebra or whatever." He leaned back in his chair. "I think it's understandable that we're impressed. You've worked so hard to overcome your natural tendencies." "Perhaps you've mistaken what my natural tendencies are." Loki muttered. "And we're willing to accept that." Rogers offered. "But you understand why we've had to take these measures." "Certainly." "That being said," he glanced at Stark and Fury, "I think we can agree that we can lighten up a bit. Less surveillance. Fewer reports. You've put in the work and you've earned a bit more trust." Loki was annoyed with himself for feeling appreciative of such a meager gesture. But he did, all the same. "Thank you."

Fury spoke for the first time. "I have a few questions first, before we loosen the leash on this would-be mass murder." Thor scowled at the title, but didn't respond otherwise. Loki nodded. "I am happy to oblige." Fury leaned forward and rested his hands on the table, lacing his fingers. "We've spoken at length about your past; the good and the bad. I want to talk about your future." "Of course." "What do you see in your future? Are you really content living in a small town on the coast of Norway? Ruling over nothing in particular? Do you truly think a prince, a god, like you won't get bored? Crave something more?"

Images passed through Loki's mind. The winding streets of New Asgard, the road that led to the mortal town, your farm nestled in the bend. He saw your studio, your kitchen, your face. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "I can say with absolute certainty that everything I crave can be found in New Asgard. Even now, all I wish is to be there again."

Fury's eye bored into him, perhaps trying to judge if he was sincere. He seemed to find what he was looking for and leaned back in his seat.

It was silent for a moment, Stark cut his eyes from one person to the next and drummed his fingers on the table. "Okay, so we're done here? The wonder twins are free to go?"

If Loki had his way they would have made for the hangar directly from that conference room, but there were hours still to pass before departure. Thor had to pack, he had farewells to bid, and even had lunch with some of his teammates. Loki caught word that the Widow would be there and he was certain his presence would sour the mood. He abstained, and had a meager meal in his room instead. He fixed his mind on the promise of seeing you again and whiled away the hours until finally, finally they boarded the quinjet. The flight was tolerable enough, knowing that every minute brought him closer to you. When they landed he didn't bother going home at all. He said his goodbye to Thor and immediately set off down the road from New Asgard.

He opened your door and was met with the smell of baking. You were in the kitchen, one tray of cookies cooling on a rack and another about to enter the oven. His ache was soothed at seeing you, but it wasn't enough. He called your name as he crossed the room as quickly as he could.

You glanced up at him as he reached you. "Oh, hey Loki." It was much more casual than he expected. Not deterred, he leaned in to kiss you but missed his target as you turned away to place the tray in the oven. "How was your flight back?" He was stunned for a moment, but took a step closer. "It was fine." He leaned again and once more you took no notice and turned at the last moment to another counter. This time he narrowed his eyes. "No fights with Thor?" He didn't answer, instead he placed himself in your path and his suspicions were confirmed when you casually turned from him and reached up to open a cabinet. You startled when his arm shot out and snapped it shut. His eyes were burning as he loomed and growled. "If you don't kiss me immediately I will burn this realm to the ground." You considered this for a moment. "Where would you start? There are a couple places I would-" You were cut off as he looped an arm around your waist and pulled you close in a crushing kiss. He was gratified when your hands immediately found their place at his shoulders.

Once he was satisfied he broke the kiss and pressed his forehead to yours. "You are, without question, the most irritating, petulant mortal I have ever had the misfortune of loving." A smirk curled your lips. "How many mortals have you loved?" He chuckled softly and kissed your cheek. "Just the one." "Sounds like I'll be winning a bunch of titles, then." "Yes. Superlative in all respects."

He was pleased to notice that your hands didn't leave him, winding their way around his neck. You leaned your head against his shoulder and sighed. "I missed you." "And I, you. Desperately." "How did it go?" "Very well. For several days I refrained from throwing Stark out of a window. A resounding success." You laughed. "I'm so proud of you." "And how were things here?" "I wasted away, pining for my lost love." "I should expect nothing less." He stated solemnly. "I do have the remedy."

Without notice, he bent and grasped your waist, effortlessly tossing you over his shoulder. You squealed. "Loki!" He started carrying you toward the bedroom. You kicked and wriggled, to his absolute delight. "Loki wait!" "Oh, I have waited long enough, I think." You reached away from him, toward the oven. "The cookies!" "You should have considered that before you gave that insolent performance at my homecoming." You struggled some more, laughing. "At least let me turn the oven off!" He waved a hand and there was a click of a knob. With no more excuses, you relented.

He stepped into the bedroom and kicked the door shut behind him.

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#loki #loki fanfiction #loki x reader #mcu loki #loki fanfic #loki mcu #reader insert #loki thrown

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marvel-starwarsfangirl · 2 months

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Kung Fu Panda 4 Review

Ok, I saw the movie yesterday and I have some thoughts. I think the film is good, but no where near the level of the first two. It's more like the third tonally. But tbf, nothing can top the second film in my opinion. KFP 2 really stepped up in its depth both in terms of its villain and message. The fourth film is very much the opposite. It's also very predictable and you can easily figure out what was gonna happen pretty early on.

What I liked: the animation is still gorgeous. Seriously, there were some very visually pleasing shots. The character models all looked great and I thought it was cool how the villain still has scales when she transforms. The music is also really nice and fun to listen to. The voice acting was also good and I thought Awkafina did a good job (major step up from Scuttle).

Po's dads were also really fun when on screen. It's nice to see them bond over Po and they do work well off of each other. They were the best part of the film, animation aside. The villain is also pretty cool with her abilities. We will talk about her more in a bit. And I did like Zhen and I'm looking forward to see what they do with her in the future. She's energetic and I did like her design.

What I didn't like: too. much. comedy. Ok look, I know this is an animated film for kids, but what made the first three films (particularly the second one) so good is that the balanced the jokes with depth. This film does have some messages, but it's intercut with so many jokes during dialogue that it takes away from it. They really needed to let this film breathe and have more serious moments to just talk and let things sink in. The villain brought back the old villains and stole their abilities (this was in trailer so not really spoiler). Why don't they do more with that? There is so much untapped potential here.

And that's my other big issue with the film: so much potential. Some of the ideas in this film are really, really good, but they only scratch the surface with it. I wanted to know more about the villain. I wanted to see our fave villains interact more. I wanted to see the villain use her powers more. But we don't get that; we only get the bare minimum. In simpler terms, there's no big "wow!" moment that the other films had.

Spoilers below (tread carefully)

Why did they bring the villains back if they were going to do almost nothing with them? The climax of the film was the Chameleon stealing the villains' abilities and fighting Po but we pretty much saw that in the trailer. Tai Lung gets to do some stuff, but I wanted more. Half of his lines were jokes anyway and I didn't vibe with it. Why did they bring him back if he was just gonna comment on things? I don't remember our favorite snow leopard being this comical. He did quip, but there was still a hardened edge to him. Idk. Maybe he got therapy in the spirit realm. Shen and Kai get crumbs, but again, they could've done so much more. And wasn't Kai destroyed completely?

With Shen and Tai Lung, I would've wanted to see more. I'm glad Tai Lung did finally come to respect Po and it does make sense. But Shen? The last time we saw him he rejected Po's help. Unless he too got the same spirit realm therapy Tai Lung did, him bowing to Po does feel very OOC. Nitpicking further, why was Shen brought back anyway? The Chameleon presumably doesn't know who Po is and Shen isn't a kung fu master. With the exception of the fanservice route, this choice only makes sense if the Chameleon was aware of Shen's actions in Gongmen and thought his level of evil would fit her vibe.

Nitpicking aside, there was so much opportunity for Po to confront his villains again and have a deep, serious moment with them. Whether either side likes it or not, they're reunited for a short amount of time. Why not capitalize on this great opportunity?

Speaking of the villain, so much untapped potential. Her design is great, her abilities are really cool, and Viola Davis does a good job voicing her. So why doesn't she get to do more? Imagine a really cool fight sequence where Po confronts her, but she shifts so much that it begins to mess with his head. Or she transforms into the older villains and Po is caught off guard? Instead, we get half the climax spoiled for us in the trailer. What was really cool about the other three was that we got multiple fight scenes with them to showcase their abilities. Thus, the final battle dialed it up to an 11 and we got a truly epic finale. Here, it feels like there should've been more, but there wasn't. Even her backstory feels lacking. It's there... but only surface level. Even Shen, arguably the cruelest of them all, had nuance and depth.

Also, why couldn't we get more of the Furious Five outside of a glorified cameo? Tigress and Po friendship is truly amazing.

As much as the jokes miss, there are some good bits. Shifu trying to deal with Po's shenanigans always crack me up. I also like the bit where Po tries to meditate and his thoughts get in the way. Because hey guess what, that's what my head is like and it's really freaking hard to quiet it down. So, there's that. I just wish the writers didn't feel like they had to insert jokes in almost every line of dialogue, you know? Li and Ping dad adventures are great except half the lines are jokes about how worried they are for Po or how not tough they are. Why not have a deeper conversation? I think it would make everything feel more natural.

I also wish Po himself was a tad more mature. I'm not expecting Shifu or Tigress levels of seriousness, but I felt that he kinda was a bit too childish. Po is one of those characters who loves to have fun, but knows when he has to be serious. However, he also likes to lighten things up with comedy. In this movie, it felt like he only really leaned into the comedy side of things. He had his moments, but I'll be honest, I really missed the "the only thing that matters is what you choose to be now" levels of dialogue. The proverb joke got old real fast, ok?

Grace Randolph from Beyond the Trailer described this movie as episodic and I can see it. The story bits are very segmented between the villain, heroes, and Po's dads. The flow and pacing of this film really needed to be upgraded.

Ok, that's all I got for now. I'm sure I'll think of something else to say (aside from encouraging everyone to rewatch KFP 2 because I'll never get enough of that film).

#kung fu panda #kung fu panda 4 #kung fu panda 4 spoilers #po #zhen #tai lung #lord shen #kai the collector #the chameleon #master shifu #mr ping #li shan

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kittievampire · 1 year

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Kin of the Demon Prince

Warnings : Cursing, Smut, Childhood Trauma, Mention of drugs, Mention of alcohol, Angst, MC is a fuckin unit, Female MC, Pregnant MC, Single Mom MC, MC x Diavolo

Link to part 2

Link to part 3

Link to part 4

Link to part 5

Link to part 6

Link to part 7

Link to part 8

Link to part 9

Summary: After a passionate night and tearful goodbye between Lord Diavolo and MC, she finds out that she is pregnant with his child soon after her return to the human realm. She had planned on telling her lover the news, but receives a horrible response. This leads to her raising her child on her own in the human realm. However, as Solomon’s cloaking spell wears thin, and Diavolo is made aware of his beloved and child, the truth unravels itself. Enjoy.

Your whole life had been a train wreck.

You had the misfortune of being born into a family with very little. Your father was in and out of jail, your mother was either drunk or high a majority of the time, and you were left to raise yourself. When your family decided to be part of your life, you became so used to the abuse, you didn’t think twice about the number of bruises you had on your body.

Your teen years weren’t any better. While you did not partake in any violent or illegal activities, you were surrounded by such things, whether it be your friends or family taking part.

You were focused on your studies for the most part, finding any reason to stay on the school campus because you didn’t feel safe at home. However, you weren’t exactly safe outside either. People were violent.

To survive, you had to adapt.

You couldn’t afford to be a pacifistic quiet kid, so you became a quiet kid who knew how to throw a punch. That didn’t mean you enjoyed it, though.

Eventually, you had become so attached to your grades, solely for the purpose of leaving that hellhole you called home. After you turned 18, however, your entire world changed.

That’s when you were sent to the Devildom for an exchange program. You were greeted by a man with tan skin and red hair, his golden eyes glowing as he smiled down at you. Beside him was a man in all black, red eyes piercing your figure. “Welcome, human!” The man in red spoke loudly, causing you to internally cringe in annoyance. “The fuck is going on?” You huffed out, completely disregarding the man’s greeting. “Language, human,” The man in black spoke, earning a small chuckle from the man in red. “Relax, Lucifer. It’s obvious she is quite spooked from the journey down here. Apologies, human, I foolishly neglected to introduce myself and my partner here. I am Diavolo, Prince of the Devildom. This is Lucifer, and those men at his side are his brothers.”

You remember it like it was yesterday. For it was the day you met the love of your life.

You didn’t have a lot of trouble adapting to life in the Devildom. The same rules applied down there as they did where you lived. Always look like you know where you’re going, always watch your back, be home by a certain time, and never go outside past dark.

Diavolo would always find reasons to invite you to his castle. Whether it be for tea, exposing him to human culture, or "reviewing" human and Devildom movies. Those nights, you usually ended up falling asleep with one of his arms wrapped around you.

Despite this, that redhead continued to appear out of nowhere to make sure you were adjusting to life here. At first, you’d try to keep conversations with him as short as possible, but he was persistent in getting so personal with you. You couldn’t make any sense of it. However, there were a few times when he’d gotten you out of trouble.

All your life you had no one protecting you from making bad decisions, but Diavolo spoke to you about such things in a way that didn't make you feel like a child. At the same time, however, it soothed the scared little girl that you used to be, just the slightest.

He was always so open about his feelings. That's what you loved about him. You wished you could do the same, but it was just so difficult for you.

You'll never forget the day you asked him out. Finally.

"MC, I didn't expect to see you here," Diavolo called out as he entered the room you and Barbatos were in. The butler had just set down the warm tea in front of the two of you and dismissed himself as soon as the young prince was seated to give you two some space.

"O-Oh! Yeah! I-I, uh... Just kinda figured I'd... You know, stop by." You stammered out, immediately slapping yourself internally for sounding like such a dork. You felt especially awkward when Diavolo stared at you and took a sip of his tea. "I... I have something to s-say..." You said softly, composing yourself as much as you can. However, the situation becomes too intense and you found yourself infatuated with the artwork on your teacup.

Diavolo wasn't an airhead. Well, not completely, at least. He had an idea of what this was about, but he continued to feign ignorance, despite the shit-eating grin he wore on his face. "Yes, my darling?" He spoke softly, causing you to shiver in delight.

The moment you caught his gaze, you decided that if you thought about it any more than you already have, nothing would be done about these feelings you had for him. You knew exactly how he felt about you, he told you almost every day how much he loves you, despite the flustered cursing as a response. "I love you, Diavolo!" You declared, your eyes screwed shut.

Diavolo let out a relieved sigh. "My little human, my darling MC," He stood, gently grasping her wrist and lifting her to her feet so he could embrace her. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting to hear those words!" You were trembling a bit in his arms, the result of your stress just a few seconds before. You looked up at him, placing a hand on his cheek as you gazed into his soft, loving, gold eyes. Slowly, your lips met in a tender kiss. This first kiss lived in your mind for the next few years.

Soon, the time came to leave the Devildom, for good this time. The night before your departure, the two of you found yourselves unable to let go of each other. Your fingers intertwined with his as you moved your hips up and down, letting out loud moans in pleasure as the tip of his manhood kissed your cervix. Diavolo grunted softly. “Fuck, MC…” You whined in response, loving the way your name sounded in his mouth. “Dia… m’gonna miss you,” You whimpered as you quickened your pace. The demon smiled up at you. “My love, I will move the Devildom and the Heavens to see you again in this lifetime. I promise I will come to visit you. As frequently as possible.” He groaned a bit after his sentence as his free hand gripped your hip, thrusting upwards at a brutal pace. “F-Fuck, Dia!” You cried out his name as your orgasm racked through your body, his thrusting remaining unfettered as he continued to seek out his climax as well. You leaned down and pressed your lips against his, a more sensual and needy kiss, as you know you won’t be getting one for a long time. You felt the warmth of his seed filling your womb and he held your hips still, groaning into the kiss before pulling away. He reached up, placing his hand on the back of your head and pulling you towards him so your forehead rested on his. "My darling Queen. I'll see you again. Hopefully, we'll be able to make your place in my kingdom official..." He said softly, gently caressing your ring finger with his thumb and index.

Once you got back to the human realm, you'd left your neighborhood and moved into a safer suburban area. Solomon would visit quite often, him being your easiest way to contact the Devildom. However, after you'd left, Diavolo had gotten busier, according to Solomon. Whenever you tried to get a hold of him, there'd be no answer. But when you needed him most was right now.

Your neighbor was worried about your sickness and suggested the idea that you were pregnant. You took a pregnancy test, sitting down on the floor of your bathroom. You bit down on your thumbnail, not knowing how long you were supposed to wait or if you were even supposed to wait at all. Maybe you should've gone to a hospital? Your eyes landed on the pregnancy test that was slightly visible on the counter top, a shaking hand reaching up and grabbing it.

You were pregnant.

Once you held it in front of you, you felt your heart drop for a moment. You stared at the positive pregnancy test, taking a moment to process.

With Diavolo's baby. Your beloved. Your heart fluttered and a smile formed on your face as tears welled up in your eyes. A baby. Half you, half him. You placed a hand on your stomach and allowed your tears to fall.

Solomon's eyes widened at the news, Florentine blue eyes looking down at your stomach and then back at your face. He paused for a moment before smiling. "Wow. That's great, MC!" He said, earning an eager nod from you in agreement. "This is amazing!" You exclaimed, "I wonder what Diavolo will say. He's mentioned that he wanted kids before, so I think it's safe to assume that he'd be pleased, yes?"

Solomon paused once more.

"Yes. I couldn't imagine him reacting any other way to the news. Would you like me to relay the information to him?" "As soon as possible!" You excitedly say, placing a hand on your stomach once more.

"Let me know his reaction. Every single detail! I wanna know what he says and how he looks like when he hears the news!" You clasped your hands together in excitement. You knew that Diavolo wanted kids, but he never really asked you to carry his child. He knew that a human carrying and giving birth to a demon child would be very difficult, and he didn't think it was a part of your agenda. At least, not yet.

Solomon smiled at you. "I see. I will relay as much detail to you as I can."

It had been about a month since then. You hadn't seen Solomon in a while, but you figured he got a bit busy. Nonetheless, you kept yourself busy as well. You were offered maternity leave, so you mainly stayed at home. Even though it was so early in your pregnancy, you couldn't help but start buying baby clothes and items. Red and gold onesies, pacifiers, and little bat toys. Life was going rather well.

Solomon finally visited. You were ecstatic when you opened the door to find him there. However, the smile on your face faded once you saw his. He looked troubled. "Solomon... Is everything okay?" You asked softly, stepping aside to let him in. He walked inside and you closed the door behind him.

"I don't have much time, MC. I had somewhere to be soon, but I have to tell you this while I have the window of free time..." Solomon spoke softly. "You might want to sit down."

You swallowed the lump of saliva that formed in your throat. Your anxiety spiked as you sat down on the couch in front of him. Solomon placed his hand on the back of his neck and sighed softly. "How... Do I put this...?" He asked himself. You fiddled with your hands, not really knowing what to do with yourself. "Solomon, just tell me," You begged slightly.

Slowly, his eyes looked up to meet yours.

"I told him the news..." He started slowly. Your heart raced. If he heard the news then why was he acting this way? Wasn't this supposed to be a joyous event?

Solomon clenched his jaw before seemingly forcing himself to spit out the next part.

"He said... He didn't want anything to do with you anymore..."

Likes, comments, and reblogs are welcome and appreciated!

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#angst #obey me Diavolo x mc #obey me Diavolo #obey me angst #obey me smut #obey me mc #obey me mc x diavolo #diavolo x female reader #diavolo x you #obey me diavolo #kin of the demon prince

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sunnycanvas · 8 months

Text

Spectral Descent

King Baldwin IV x Fem!Reader

Warning: character death

It was late hours in the kingdom of Jerusalem. King Baldwin IV sat alone in his dimly litted chamber surrounded by lamp meticulously reviewing documents that bore the fate of his realm. The room was illuminated by the soft glow of lamps, casting long shadows across the parchment. The King was consumed by his kingly duties when, suddenly, a haunting howl, akin to a wolf's cry, pierced the silence of the night. A sigh escaped him as he rose from his ornate chair to peer out of the window into the quiet, slumbering kingdom below. The streets lay deserted, the kingdom cloaked in stillness. It was late at hours of the night. People were mostly asleep. The kingdom looked dead. Deep in contemplation, he couldn't help but ponder about the future of his kingdom after his inevitable passing, and more acutely, about your fate. You, his beloved, whom he longed for with every fiber of his being. Knowing that you had journeyed to visit your distant family weighed heavily on his heart. Though he longed to accompany you, He had reluctantly let you go under the protection of trusted knights and a loyal carriage rider

Baldwin IV suddenly felt heavy pain in his heart and felt suffocation in throat almost as if someone is chocking him. Your lack of presence must be truly suffocating the king.

In desperation, King Baldwin IV whispered in agony "Almighty God, Eternal Father, Lord of Lords, have mercy upon me, a humble knight in Thy Divine Service. O Lord, I pray for Thy indulgence and blessing"

Exhaustion took its toll, and he decided it was time to retire for the night. Carrying his lamp, he headed for his bed, but as he turned, a figure in the mirror caught his attention – it was you . You had shocked expression in your face. Your sudden presence startled him. "Oh, hello there, (Y/N)," he greeted with a mixture of relief and anxiety. "You scared me. For a moment, I thought it was an assassin." Baldwin IV smiled as he put his hand near his heart. You smiled softly at him then chuckled. Hiding your mouth with your hand.

"My love, you look even more beautiful in darkness. Your face is glows like that of a porcelain doll and your eyes are shine like those stars outside. A sinister smile curled at the corners of your lips as you whispered "My, my!" "You really do love me" "I sometimes think like you are obsessed with me".

"Enough of talking" "Come here" "Let me hug you".

You appeared scared and recoiled from his hand reaching out to you. King Baldwin IV looked confused and hurt by your rejection. You were last person who he would think would be repulsed by his condition

"I am sorry I am tired". You excused yourself as you walked around the room lighting more candles and placing them around the room. An unsettling feeling gnawed at King Baldwin IV. Something was terribly amiss, but he couldn't quite discern it. "I bought you your favourite food as well as some of the silk clothes". "They shouldn't hurt your leprous skin". You laid out his gifts on table and King Baldwin IV quietly say opposite to you. You took a seat opposite him, and he regarded you with growing suspicion, sensing that you were not what you seemed.King Baldwin IV looked at you skeptically. You could tell your lover has gotten suspicious. To lighten the mood Baldwin IV joked "Hopefully someone didn't sell you poison, saying it would cure me" you flinched hearing that and stuttured "Oof cour-se not" ."Yo-uh know how uh.. much I love you" Baldwin IV feeling of unease increased after hearing your response. "My love don't take it so seriously" "I was just joking" "You aren't that dumb". "You were acting strange so I thought of lightning the atmosphere" Baldwin IV laughed at his own joke but you could read unease in his face. You smiled wryly in response "He's perceptive, just as I expected," you thought, realizing that your true nature had been discovered sooner than you had planned

Just then both of your attention was drawn away by the tapping sound on the window Relief washed over you, but it quickly turned to dread as you gazed outside. A vulture seemed intent on feasting on the food you had brought. In a panic, you grabbed the food and began to dart around the room, while King Baldwin IV watched in amusement. Eventually, the vulture gave up and departed. "You do seem guilty, my dear vulture," you mused, "I promise to feed you next time."

You looked at King Baldwin IV who smiled wryly and said "A bird flying around room is bad omen". "That must be for me" "After all these verses are meant for me".

"You think too much love" your voice lowered to strong degree and suddenly King Baldwin IV felt chilly in his room. "I think we have interacted enough"

"My lov-"

"Enough"

Your attitude made King Baldwin IV feel offended . "You can't talk to me like that" Baldwin IV retorated. "So that's how it going to me" "I came here to have good time but it seems I won't be getting one". "Sleep love, I don't want to play games anymore".

Baldwin IV felt heavy sleep take over him and felt the world go dark around him.

Next day at early morning he woke up on his chair. The table had no food and bed had no gifts on them. "She must have cleaned the table and shifted the gifts" king Baldwin he reasoned, stretching and preparing to search for you, intending to give you a piece of his mind for your strange behavior. Exiting his chamber, he immediately noticed the tense and hurried atmosphere within the castle. People rushed about, their faces filled with fear. Worried and bewildered, he began to inquire, "Where is (Y/N)?" But no one had an answer.

"Brother" Princess Sybilla said as she came with grave expression looking as her tensed brother who said "It seems like (Y/N) is angry with me" "I can't find her anywhere".

"No, that's not true" "Please, remember to be strong for your god and your people"

"Of course, sister" "I am not so weak hearted" Baldwin IV replied offended.

"It was just one silly argument, which we had yesterday night" Baldwin IV explained. Confused Princess Sybilla said "What are you talking about?" Baldwin IV replied "She came to my room yesterday night". Confused sybilla said "That's not possible" "She died yesterday night". This time King Baldwin IV was shocked. "Dismayed, Baldwin IV protested, "No, that can't be true! Please, don't jest about this. Where is she? We had an argument last night, but it was just a petty quarrel". King Baldwin IV looked in verge of tears and sybilla felt sorry for her brother. Sybilla's eyes held the weight of a terrible truth as she delivered the dreadful news, "Brother, I would never joke about matters of life and death". "The knights and carriage rider warned her about the consequences of travelling in late hours but she wouldn't budge saying she longed your presence enough and as a result was willing to take the risk" "She passed away yesterday late hours after carriage accident".

"Late hours?". Baldwin IV fell into deep thought until he realised that's the time you came to visit him.

#baldwin iv #baldwin iv imagine #baldwin iv x reader #kingdom of heaven #kingdom of heaven 2005 #kingdom of heaven fanfic #kingdom of heaven fanfiction #kingdom of heaven fandom #kingdom of heaven headcanons #king baldwin iv

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a-d-nox · 7 months

Text

a review of my 22nd solar return year

about a year ago, i made a predictions post for my year ahead and now here i am updating y'all with what actually happened as i previously suggested that i would! so let's jump into it - i pasted all my previous predictions in to this post for your reading ease!

1H IN LEO AT 3°

predictions: adventure, appearance, death of an aunt or uncle, grandparents, health, nation and its health, arrogance, bets, fainting spells, heart disease, politics, president, romance, royalty, social affairs, accuracy, activeness, anxieties, authors, books, logic, manuscripts, mentor, whispering, and wit. FINALLY SOME RECOGNITION! i feel like i may have some anxiety struggles and continuing health issues (i did get better this past year and i am still working on my health) BUT i have some hope that this may be my year. i have been trying to publish my manuscript since 2020 - i finally have found an english professor that actually wants more of me and my writing (he actually gave me a creative writing award before i graduated) and literary views so with luck i will have a mentor and a published novel. i also feel like i may be a bit popular this year (to say the least - yes; literally everyone wanted to talk with me after class, sit around me, do thinks over summer, etc.). the sun square as aspect still indicates me being me though - i'm abrasive (someone literally told me that i was intimidating and they thought i was plotting their murder before they actually got to know me) and literally only socialize when i must (bent my rule for sure). venus square asc too i don't feel like my first impression are gonna be that great or charming BUT THATS LIFE LOL. the pan sextile as is giving public panic attack vibes and i am not here for it... lastly that paris opposite asc - am i helen this year? possibly? if i decide to date, will people be unable to look away - DEFINITELY (literally so many people asked me if i was dating the dude that i was interested in because we were really close friends as well)! mostly because i never date (still don't i guess because it wasn't official) and everyone always "assumes that i'm already with someone." so it will definitely rock the boats.

what actually happened: this past year i feel like everyone was a bit more aware if my health - both mental and physical - and they were more understanding of my situation, thus more willing to help me. i feel like people liked me because of my openness and realness of my situation (though sometimes they found my irritability of the situation and my current feelings to be an annoyance). i was able to go out and do my thing and my friends were understanding of the locale choices and my limits there. i eventually had the ability to overcome my social anxiety a bit by presenting a paper i co-authored with other friends. it didn't get published but by the end of the school year i had all the english departmental awards - one of which was for creative writing. i did have a bit of a "dating or not dating" scandal where everyone was asking quite often if he and i were together too.

2H IN LEO AT 23° (contains abundantia)

predictions: budget, cash, voice, bets, courtship, astrology, society, and home. i feel like i never truly content with the 2h *shrug* - the fact that i have some aquarian influence with that degree feels like the universe giving me back up. it doesn’t matter what i do so long as i am happy - money matters but at the same time i’m young and stupid so it doesn’t matter. i sense having a lot of spare change and having a roaring 20s type of time - just fun and games. if the group is happy so am i. i feel like whatever it is i am doing to get money positively effects my home and societal status BUT it feels pretty up in the air as to how it will effect my social and romantic realm perhaps i will be paying for others giving abundantia’s presence here (kinda in the same vein were people feel awkward when a friend pays for your things or your lover takes you on a date and you grab the tab before they can? ya know?).

what actually happened: GUYS I'M ON BUDGETTOK!! i love budgeting and cash stuffing. i even have a google sheets for money tracking. the money is flowing in and it all started here when i started paid tarot readings, which then became paid astrology readings, and then became finding a part-time job (then i got a promotion there). money is good and all but as long as i can get what i want (like that tarot set that we did the dessert games with) i am cool with what's up financially! i do/did make people uncomfortable with how giving i am with the money i make (like i am buying christmas presents already and i am like "i'm almost done with your gifts" and everyone is like STOP WHAT DO YOU MEAN ALMOST).

3H IN VIRGO AT 18° (contains midas)

predictions: written agreement, savvy, dictionaries, novels, rumors, signatures, first aid, fingers, food storage, nerve specialist, and uterus afflictions. i feel great about the book indicators but horrifying by the health omens. not to mention the ruler being sickly virgo with abdominal issues and me having possibly DIE. seems like a hot and cold era. socially, i feel uprooted in terms of midas being here maybe as though i will be doing a lot of “short trips.” also as though socially i will receive both hate and adoration.

what actually happened: reading is nothing new for me, but this last year i was very technical like the virgo 3h would suggest (lots of tabs and even more footnotes). when i started working i had some hand/finger changes - bumps, calluses, blisters, pains, etc. (i feel like that a midas virgo thing?). but otherwise my abdominal/uterine pain was well managed with medication. i did go on a few shorter trips with friends - all the friends are nonexistent existent now though just like i predicted unfortunately.

4H IN LIBRA AT 19° (contains sun, mercury, venus, ambrosia, and aphrodite)

predictions: agriculture, ground, homestead, uterus, womb, art, love, music, poetry, unions, weddings, dead, reproductive systems, research, copper, surgery, ambition, power, wisdom, authors, book, confession, limericks, novelist, public speaking, companion, hope, hobbies, honeymoons, ovaries, and suitors. just wanna say could this be the year - a libra house with venus in it?? could i possibly be dating someone?? that would be a first. i feel like for sure i’m going to start gardening that’s the vibe of fourth house ambrosia - you are like a naturally a green thumb i have never gardened before but i already have pepper seeds!! i also have a weird feeling that maybe i won’t be publishing the book i thought i would but instead i will be publishing poetry (mercury conjunct venus, mercury 27°, and a heavy lean on libra energy for this house) which is not necessarily shocking. not to keep harping in “non-medical” houses but this one is the womb - i wonder if (sorry if this is over sharing) my gyn is gonna tell me i have to be on birth control and i get a cooper IUD (copper is venus and libra ruled). that would lowkey piss me off but ambrosia here makes me think maybe i’d feel better. aphrodite here makes me think with balanced hormones i’d be hot lmfao - or this could be another romance symbol with all the libra and venus energy going on.

what actually happened: i did indeed start my garden - AND IT FLOURISHED!!! i learned a lot about my garden and what i need to work on to make it better next year. but there was no wedding or death and the uterine problems were solved with little white pills and now i feel okay - but have some suspicions... on another note there were a lot of confessions from the person i thought would be more and those confessions did make it seem like he would be more at times. i even got confessions from others that were QUESTIONABLE.

5H IN SCORPIO AT 25° (contains moon and frigga)

predictions: magic, pelvis, poisonous plants, surgery, inflammation of womb, inflammation, pregnancy, romance, babies, breasts, childbirth, and fertility. i read this a part of my chart and go hm - pregnancy scare? endometriosis? raspberry leaf tea? endoscopy?? any way i cut it it seem sus??? or this could have to do with me writing poetry again considering the moon’s presence. frigg here makes me think of pregnancy because she’s the mother. but it could also suggest romantic promise!

what actually happened: i definitely went through some romantic fluctuations given the moon - BUT i would like to note that oddly he was a cancer (so is there a correlation between planets placed in the 5h and who you date that year? possibly? idk). i did have to deal with my fertility and start a birth control because my suspected DIE was causing me to be forced into stay home too often. when i got started on this birth control i did notice a lot of breast pain (scorpio is mars ruled and the this house starts at an aries degree - so i would think discomfort is pretty common). i am okay with it for now; as the alternative, it was suggested to turn off my hormones entirely which would force me into a pseudo-menopause... i do worry slightly after visiting my eye doctor in july that my taking a progesterone only (the only type of birth control i can really take) is causing PCOS (he found a cluster of blood vessels and said some scary things but among his list was pre-diabetes and PCOS often is due to increased testosterone and not enough estrogen which causes increased insulin (which is connected to pre-diabetes))... on a lighter note, i did have some poetry published this year and i did start writing more poetry again!

6H IN CAPRICORN AT 2° (contains pluto and huitzilopochtli)

predictions: doctors, healing, order, ashes, black, clocks, contraction, depression, limitations, politics, profession, beauty, copper, profit, voice, bladder, regeneration, and sex organs. i feel like this is like the last opportunity sign from the universe. i can get my shit together now and become my best self OR get really bad lol. it’s funny but it’s not because huitzilopochtli is just so energetic meanwhile we have contemplative, semi-hustler capricorn and slow moving pluto here - so this could go either way. given the ambrosia square saturn my best bet is likely food/diet. the square may indicate that i shouldn’t take it all upon myself to figure it out sooooo NOTED.

what actually happened: i saw a few new doctors this year (i even got a mineral hair test) all of whom are looking out for me - some say some scare sh!t though (thank you, pluto in the 6h). but generally this was a better year for me health wise - i didn't have as many mysterious leg bruises, i didn't feel like i gained or lost weight, i didn't have prescription change, etc. i did feel energetic, yet tired all year though with huitzilopochtli and capricorn in my 6h. i do feel like i am doing a lot of planning and such in my day to day life - like i have now started drafting and queuing posts for the month a month in advance and i also glammed up my google calendar - i do feel like my natal virgo mars still wants to keep plotting and planning though.

7H IN AQUARIUS AT 3° (contains saturn, amalthea, arachne, and paris)

predictions: art, boyfriend, books, communication, debates, intelligence, journalism, proofreader, studies, writing, cramps, freethinker, friends, society, ambitious person, blindfold, doom, doubt, long lasting friendship, ink, jealousy, monogamy, loneliness, possessiveness, cold, time, tragedy, tradition, and winter. the ruler is in the house :) perfect a relationship that is either gonna last or be toxic af considering it’s saturn lol. but we have to giggle little at this description he’s like paris - i’m the prettiest girl in his eyes, nurturing like amalthea, and talented like arachne. I KNOW WHO HE IS LMFAO - it’s the guy who sits next to me in class i am half curious if he is an aquarius. we are both nerds - he asked me to write a scholarly article with him. lol is that getting asked out? part of me says this connection is likely to further mature as winter sinks in.

what actually happened: there was no boyfriend, just a boy that took up the emotional real estate of what would be use for a boyfriend. we did communicate a lot and at the end of the day he was like we are just friends (thanks, aquarius 7h). he introduced me to the world of journalism though - as the editor he was very active. i wrote 5 articles in the 4 month span. while it was doomed from the start, he awoke something in me that i could have more and i could do more than what i was doing, so at the very least i can thank him for that. but i do feel like it was a bit convenient... we were around each other and he was curious of what i could be to him and by the end of the school year he was like "ehhh i don't want you, like you want me" - the summer was rough with the loneliness i felt after he stopped reaching out (immature it may be but i always take it intentionally when people don't reach out to me).

8H IN AQUARIUS AT 23° (contains kleopatra)

predictions: inheritance, occult, sex, sex organs, surgery, astrology, blood and circulation, cramps, and spirituality. kleopatra huh??? *smirk* looks like an intimate relationship. i don’t really feel like i need to say the stuff i have said before as i see similar words arise in this category/house.

what actually happened: nothing happen. i just got emotionally and mentally intimate with him.

9H IN PISCES AT 18° (contains jupiter, neptune, and chiron)

predictions: counselors, education, philosophical societies, long distance travel, university, writing, advisor, celebration, education, honor, luck, recommendations, writing, aesthetics, delusion, fantasy, fiction, mythology, poetry, editing, satire, studiousness, fictitious name, and self-undoing. this is my year - i’m gonna graduate, jupiter 0° is 100% the vibe. but as for the rest neptune could be writing now that i am in the english program it could be telling that i am getting into it-into it. refer to 7h i really am working with him to create a scholarly paper so :) it’s doing somethin’. the self-undoing may be my own fault in terms of anxiety :/ OH WELL WHAT ELSE IS NEW - i kid you not i’m not like “i have butterflies in my stomach” anxious i am “i skipped class tuesday-thursday this week because i got paranoid that i was going to vomit in my class in front of my peers and i wouldn’t recover from that” anxious.

what actually happened: i did graduate. and now i am on educational break (which i think is neptune and chiron involved - i think that it would be good for me to get a certification, a masters, or my MFA but i need to be more grounded than i currently am about getting any of those things). graduation was not the best, which i suppose is the chiron influence - there was a fair bit of drama (looking at you, neptune) about who was going and who i disinvited for my day. things got settled though and i got my awards and now i am free from the educational system in the first time in my life, considering i grew up in / going to daycare.

10H IN ARIES AT 19° (contains uranus and north node)

predictions: achievements, authority, career, cramps, curiosity, change, freedom, freelance, romance, freethinking, shock, writing, courage, energy, affection, companions, friendliness, partnership, and poet. i’m not getting a traditional job - i’m taking 6 months off to do whatever i want and that likely means freelance which is uranus vibes mixing with the libra degree. the freelance stuff could be very critical to me as a person as well as the forward movement in my careers to come. whatever it is has me talking and writing A LOT given the tight orb between the ruler mars and the planet mercury.

what actually happened: this is my freelance domain here - i opened readings - i have made since starting in july, around 500 USD which is pretty decent considering i do not charge a lot, nor do i offer readings consistently. i did not take off as much time as i thought i would because i had too much time to myself to think about what everyone who is still at my university is doing without me... i did not get a full-time remote position unfortunately though. but i do a lot of communication because i am a supervisor, so i am guiding people who i work with as well as customers (which is the house ruler aspecting mercury).

11H IN TAURUS AT 25° (contains mars, agamemnon, odysseus, and pan)

predictions: acquaintanceship, companionship, working ability, adventure, aggressor, ambition, challenge, chemistry, contest, fearlessness, fights, inflammation, love/passion, men, participation, courage, dancing, wealth, and voice. it’s gonna be an odd friendship year seems competitive given mars, pan, and agamemnon - all of these objects are competitive or have critical competitions within their myth. odysseus could indicate some travel with friends or becoming the last man standing - we should recall that odysseus came back home and only had two people who he could actually trust and having zero crew-mates left. given this is societal interaction house of things this could be a romantic or passionate light for me to stand in given - mars and taurus. the ruler in the 4h could indicate me being a hostess and opening my doors to others.

what actually happened: in terms of friendship, it has been a very challenging year. very quickly i learned that some of my "friends" weren't friends at all; perhaps we didn't know each other at all. i had a friend confess her feelings for my situationship then later say that a toxic part of her wants (inadvertently) him to be obsessed with her. i fell in love with my best friend (mars moments... and how still miss him despite the months of no communication). i had a group toss me out of their chat because they thought i did something i didn't even do. then attempt to immaturely defame my character. i feel horrible that they continue to seek out my downfall as they sometimes talk people into sending me screenshots of them bullying me in that chat in hopes of triggering me into responding. i hope all of them finds happiness one day, instead of trying to bring others down. i feel like the competitive/offensive nature was tangible in all these situations (shoutout to agamemnon and pan)... but more so i felt the odysseus placement here. i felt one thing after another lead me to realize that all i can trust is a very select few. and beyond that i can really only trust and rely on myself. a lot of people didn't have the best intentions towards me, nor did they really want to be my friend. their preference was to be intolerant of me and my personality (i'm not an easy person, i'm not perfect, but i'm not a monster and i am certainly not the snake some people believe i am).

12H IN CANCER AT 3°

predictions: anxiety, books, breathing, literature, manuscripts, restlessness, homemaking, and uterus. health anxiety. and escapism via reading, writing, and cookings lol YEP THATS ABOUT RIGHT LOL.

what actually happened: social anxiety is big for me lots of people don't take it seriously when i say i have it because i manage it well, but i found a great number of people who understood me this year when i said i have it... i was also an escapist writer this year, i often wrote when i was sad or mad instead of saying what was really going on and what i was feeling out loud (cancer / moon 5h vibes).

that's all for now!! keep an eye out next week for my newest set of predictions for my 23rd solar return year! are you interested in a solar return reading? consider purchasing a "sunny d" reading; read more about the reading and it's cost here!

click here for the masterlist

click here for more return chart posts

want a personal reading? click here to check out my reading options and prices!

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mdhwrites · 9 months

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I feel part of the reason toh is hold in such high standart over series of the same demographic is how fast it abandons the episodic format in favor of a more serialized vibe. I have noticed lately that audiences have come to see episodic as the lesser form of storyteling in comparation to serial, and unlike series like amphibia that remain episodic the vast mayority of their runtime, toh feels very serial in his later half even if it still holds an episodic format for most of s2. People like that didn't bother them with 'silly & inconsecuental' episodic adventures more than other shows. There's a reason some people skip most of s1 of amphibia and a big part of that is how episodic it is.

Okay so this is going to get wild because I'm going to seem incredibly critical of filler but I want to make something clear here: Filler is flavor. As a writer, I'm actually happy that I personally think I've been adding MORE filler to my stories. There's a reason I have a good number of reviews on my early books commenting how surprised people were that I get a LOT done with a low word count after all.

But let's first define Filler. It actually refers to non-canon material in anime which... makes sense actually. The issue with filler arcs, even the good ones, in anime are that you have to reset to zero afterwards for the sake of being able to keep in line with whatever the mangaka creates eventually.

But how does that translate to Western animation where the director for a given show is effectively its mangaka? Well... It's complicated but many will position themselves as it being anything not critical to the plot, themes and core elements of the show. Put a pin in the phrasing I use there.

With that being the definition though, how much of TOH do you have to see to grasp its core narrative? Well...

A Lying Witch and a Warden simply to be introduced to the main three characters and for the setup.

The Intruder so as to learn about the curse.

Covention so as to learn about Lilith and Eda's relationship as well as the Coven system.

And then Agony of a Witch/Young Blood Old Souls to see resolution to the curse and the destruction of the portal door.

And if you're going "What about-"

What about anything else? Amity doesn't develop Luz's character in any way that changes her actions in the finale, though arguably at all in general. Gus and Willow appear in the finale and Covention but you don't need to be introduced to them. As far as the plot is concerned, "Luz's friends" is literally all you need to know and you don't need a full episode's introduction to that. Lilith and Eda's relationship starts catty and slightly childish and competitive and the last thing they do before the finale? Play a Grudgby Match that Eda would have probably tricked Lilith out of having to pay the consequences for if she'd lost... Literally just like back in Covention but less dramatic. Literally NONE of these elements matter to the story of TOH.

It gets WORSE for S2/3. Hunter's whole character payoff is in Belos' Backstory... Which doesn't matter. The Collector never matters. Going to Earth doesn't matter. Hell, the portal does so little to progress ANYTHING but Lumity, that it doesn't matter. The episodes that matter are:

Elsewhere Elsewhen because Luz is the main character so knowing the context for her angst arc is important, even if her angst arc goes literally nowhere. You might think this means Yesterday's Lie but the promise in that literally doesn't matter as her angst is unrelated and not about the promise. She wants to stay in the human realm for other reasons, rendering Yesterday's Lie and Vee pointless... Except this episode is pointless because the reveal of Belos as Philip is the only part that matters which-

Hollow Mind: Is done properly here to the cast as the one in Elsewhere Elsewhen only is to the audience and so demanded that it be done a second time, harming this one's reveal. You won't know as many specifics but as Luz claims the light glyph was part of her sin when we see literally no evidence of him knowing the light glyph matters... Yeah, the writers didn't care about the specifics either.

Edge of the World: I almost included Echoes of the Past because that introduces this issue but it's so different from how King is for 80% of S1 that really what you need to know is that King is the Titan's son. Not even that he himself as a Titan as King is not important to the story of TOH. Only the fact that he is related to the thing that will allow Luz to beat Belos matters to the story of TOH.

And then Watching and Dreaming for S3... Because Luz confronting Belos in King's Tide doesn't matter. It's not like it even weakens Belos in a substantial way and King releasing the Collector doesn't matter either. Moments like "I want to be understood!" in the first two parts of S3 don't matter to Luz's character because they actively make the dream sequence at the start of the finale worse because the show is still mining the same conflict for Luz that it has been since Hollow Mind. Luz's friends and Hexide are barely in the finale, you're only missing out on caring about them during the epilogue and despite skipping over Harpy Eda, Harpy Eda barely matters to Eda's character, same goes for Raine.

That's the thing with people claiming filler as much as they do online. They POSITION themselves to be about plot and narrative. About getting down to just what matters. If they were being honest, they'd admit that most of what they call filler is because it doesn't cover elements they care about. The Plantars are main characters of Amphibia but many who criticize filler in Amphibia explicitly don't give a shit about the frogs. A lot of them skipped S1 because it focused on the frogs and Anne was rougher...

But that's also why VERY little of S1 of Amphibia IS filler. I would argue it's more serialized, just in a more classic manner of making old elements eventually important, because the development of its characters and the push and pull the characters have about change versus who they are and how to handle change is important to the payoffs of the series overall. Hop Pop's Noir episode? Actively talking about things that will come up even in the FINALE of the series. Anne learning to ride Bessie? Teaches her about learning the quirks of others and the importance of doing something right instead of wanting instant gratification.

And instant gratification is what TOH is all about... Ruining its serialization. Like I pointed out with Lilith: Eda and hers relationship starts as sympathetic towards Eda and NEVER CHANGES. What if in Covention, Eda had to be saved and over the course of S1, we saw Lilith softening so the tragedy of Agony of a Witch hit harder as Lilith decided to go back to who she was. To do anything for the Coven... And thus make Belos' betrayal SO MUCH WORSE?

Luz starts as a genuinely good person. Hell, she regresses over the course of the series as in Young Blood, Old Souls, she chooses that sacrificing one life isn't worth her safety or her potentially not screwing up... And then condemns an entire world to death when she chooses not to go back in Thanks to Them. She doesn't learn and grow and her relationships are shaky at best. They also arguably do a poor job at pushing the themes of TOH because TOH struggles to keep consistent with its themes. If it's about community, why is the EC purely demonized instead of trying to be rallied so Hunter doesn't have to lose his community? If it's about self expression, why do both Hunter and Amity end up being clones of past generations where Amity is just her father, right down to being subservient to the girl who enchanted them in High School, and Hunter is just Caleb? If it's about individuality and creativity versus rigidity and order, why don't Amity, Gus or Willow ever actually pick up a second coven or just in general, why aren't the covens treated as the illegal thing they are instead of college? This is why I say TOH struggles with theme because it's all about wish fulfillment for Luz and how she's just the greatest person in existence who never had to change and grow which is a pretty shit theme.

BUT

With all of that said, TOH would be WAY worse without the filler... Because Filler is Flavor. Amity adds a lot of good to the show in S1. Hunter adds good flavor to S2. Raeda is neat. I honestly wish I had more good to say about Gus or Willow because their episodes are genuinely filler as they don't make the world more interesting, usually make it genuinely worse, and are kind of boring in general with their episodes. Or repetitive for that matter. Lilith and Eda though? I still like that Grudgby match they have, even if it's derivative because it's fun and it's neat to see different sides of these characters.

Honestly, I kind of wish My Adventures with Superman had MORE filler. Just more time to breathe and just enjoy these characters being kind of quirky or fun or just neat. Not everything needs to feel breakneck. If it's plot time all the time, an issue for S2D of TOH where after Hollow Mind everything is EXHAUSTING, then you never get a chance to breathe. Never get a chance to just enjoy the world and explore it.

I just wish there was more to explore with TOH but it's too busy not caring about its own elements or making an interesting world to explore anything. Not anything explore anything besides how clever it thinks it is. Just like how people think it's clever for claiming to be serialized when it really isn't.

After all: How much of green haired Amity do you really need to see in order to understand Purple Haired Amity? Like people kept pointing out: Would you believe these two are even the same character?

Does it even matter? For a serialized story, it should have and that's why TOH isn't serialized.

#the owl house criticism #toh critical

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lumiidragon · 5 months

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So now that I've seen the last season of the Nine Realms, I can finally give my own personal review on it, and the last seeing as how this was the last season and TNR is officially over.

So needless to say SPOILERS BELOW! PLEASE STOP READING HERE IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE LATEST SEASON AND DON'T WANT SPOILERS!!!

So let me start out on a, sadly poor note with this: this season was super disappointing... The big finale, the end-all, the conclusion to The Nine Realms was...flat. Boring. Pointless. Like, this was actually probably one of the more poorer seasons...

So let's start with The World Serpent (Yeah, I can't spell the other name, so I'll just refer to it as 'The Serpent' for ease. This dragon was honestly a really cool design, but not as a "predator of all dragons and the destroyer of The Hidden World". First off, a top-tier predatory animal that is meant to destroy all dragons and the dragon ecosystem...doesn't make sense. Why would an animal like that exist??? If The Hidden World is supposed to be this perfect dragon paradise, then why is there a dragon that literally goes against this notion. Also, this dragon was literally seen poorly trying to catch a terrible terror in a flock of three that was just casually flying around its face like a cat trying to catch a fly and not doing very good at it. This is the dragon that can supposedly take down any dragon such as a Red Death? A bewilderbeast? Any titan-class dragon? No, I don't think so. The poisonous gas attack it has is powerful, but this dragon just doesn't scream "Destroyer of The Hidden World" to me. Not that a dragon that is destined to destroy the world all the dragons that are damned there forever makes sense anyways, but still. On top of that, this dragon spent most of its time "defeating the Riders" by hitting them with the same amount of power any other dragon enemy has and then just taking off. That was pretty much it. It hit once or twice then ran away. The series literally only made this thing to be "unbeatable" because they made the Riders' dragons have 2 HP per battle and have the bad guy dip afterward, thus drawing this out through the entirety of the season. This dragon wasn't powerful, it was long-winded. Finally, the final battle was so.......boring? The group brought in an "Army Of Dragons" to defeat this thing, which would have been cool if it weren't for the fact that they basically just brought one or two dragons a piece. That's not an army and if a handful of common dragons with two special bosses (the Faultripper and the Sky Torcher) is all that it took to beat this thing, then this dragon was never the ultimate dragon destroyer the legends made it out to be. I could really go more into how The Serpant and the battles with it were pointless, boring, and just anti-climatic, but this section has gotten long enough, so I'll leave it at this.

Next up, Tom and Jun. Their romance drama was so pointless and added literally nothing to the story. This is the last season and it's only 6 episodes long. They don't need teen romance side-drama this late into the series, they need to concentrate on what was supposed to be the issue at hand. That, and Jun breaking it off with Tom over him doing the same thing he's always done since Season 1 really shows their compatibility as a romantic duo. But yeah, their whole romance here was just completely pointless and added nothing to the series. Also, Alex and Eugene was also completely unnecessary with what they were trying to build.

Then we have the villains. So Buzzsaw's goons and Linda are the most pointless characters in the villain side of things. The bumbling side kicks to a villain can be charming, but when every villain's group are just kids in adult bodies that still need to be babysat or else they can't do anything right, then it gets annoying and kind of pointless. Linda was probably the worst of them. As for Buzzsaw, his redemption was too much a play off of Dagur and, in my opinion very unnecessary. It felt like they only redeemed him because they didn't need him anymore, but didn't have the time to properly deal with him. As for Sledkin, she was actually a decent villain for what the series was giving, but ultimately fell into the weak trope of "I'm so desperately obsessed over my final goal that I am just throwing self preservation out the window so I can be pointlessly reckless despite being a very intelligent individual" and ended up getting killed over it (which I'm surprised TNR actually had a human death in this).

So let's finally move to my final complaints with this season:

-Thunder being "alpha" is bullshit. There is no way the night lights (yes, even the Elder Night Light) are the "Kings of Dragons" when most dragons didn't give them two glances. So there is no way Thunder is an alpha. I'm sorry, but no. Also, with the Elder Night Light passing, it's nice to see how literally no one cared since Thunder can glow like a radioactive lightbulb now, I guess. They grieved Sledkin more than this dragon. Thunder hardly even cared. Along with the night light thing, Thunder's family is not only useless in the series, but seeing as how we never get a real reason as to why night lights are breeding with each other, I am not convinced that this family line isn't just a messed up family wreath than a family tree at this point. Nothing was explained, so the fans only have the fact that there were only 3 night lights from Toothless (Toothless who was basically never mentioned in this series) and the Light Fury (who wasn't mentioned at all) and no others exist, but we see night lights having kids with each other....I....ew.

-The Raker episode was literally just not necessary and could have been left out altogether and nothing change. This is the last season, we don't need pointless spoilers.

-Olivia was being built as a true character earlier in the series, shame she was basically forgotten about. Same for the other parents.

-The Gods Realm was boring and really uninteresting to look at. Like...it might as well have been any chamber in any cave around the world, not the "Lungs of the Hidden World", which the dragonite still makes no sense and there's no way they would have run out of oxygen in that massive chamber that quickly with the stone removed. None of that made sense.

-There's no way Tom would have ever learned how to communicate with dragons with Valka's staff. I don't know where they got this "Hypnotizing" thing from, but Valka lived alone with dragons for 20 years. She communicated and learned their language that she developed replications of in her own way. Tom cannot learn that in a short montage because Valka's power with dragons came from her connection and understanding from more time of experience with dragons alone than Tom has even been alive for. The staff was a tool, not the power itself. That, and Hiccup would never use his mother's staff. That's A. not his approach to dragons anyway, and B. his mother's. Valka most likely would have had her burial with that staff. Oh, and it's nice to see yet another thing just be casually destroyed and not cared about.

-And I think the last thing I've got for this massive post is the ending. Yes, the dragons leave. What a surprise. This time, the dragons choose to leave and more or less say "Sorry kids, you guys...eh, kinda suck.". The Riders were basically pleading with their dragons (mostly Tom) that there had to be another way and the dragons wouldn't even let them touch them anymore. They acted like they had their fun and it's gone stale so it's time to leave. Great...bond??? Of course, it was over "HOOMANS BAD." so why bother to fix the world when you can just hide in a dead-looking cave system forever? Right? Not only that, but the group itself also split up, expect for Tom and Jun of course, because how else can the series end off with the romance that they pointlessly shoved in.

So yeah, this season was......not good. I really had my hopes out for the series ending much more interestingly, but in the end, with the dragons shoving themselves away again, nothing came from this series other than Tom gets a girlfriend and the group learns the true power of video calls. So in all, I give TNR a personal 5-6/10.

#how to train your dragon #httyd #the nine realms #httyd tnr #tnr salt #//There were some parts that made me laugh and stuff//#//but overall the season was a bust to me//#//and that's sad//

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recurring-polynya · 9 months

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I'm on vacation, so here is a random grab-bag of Soul Society thoughts I had while staring into the sea today (this is mostly for @bleachbleachbleach but you can read it too)

One of my favorite conceits of B3's writing (I feel like things that appear in fanfiction are sort promoted from headcanons but I don't have a good word for it) is the notion that Rukongai has its own magic that is fundamentally different and, in fact, somewhat opposed to shinigami magic. This first shows up in Afar, Afar, where Momo loses her ability to see spirits in Junrinan (and perhaps even her memory that such a thing exists). There was also a notion of it in REVERSE THE BONE (the best Weird Rukongai fic ever written) about the train, which already exists in a sort of quantum state where it sometimes exists both forward and backward in time, but also that the journey depends on the passengers. There's a quote at the beginning, but nonetheless, has completely rewired my brain (it has been over a month, and I am still thinking about it):

Hisagi does not find this mollifying. “Yeah, but I don’t even think Captain Kuchiki gets the same train as the rest of us. Have you ever tried to use his restaurant reviews? Because I always print these things, and they sound great, then I go. And then they’ll look at me like—Well. It’s like I’m not even at the same restaurant. But hey, at least you’ll get to see a lot, right? I’ve heard East Rukongai these days is… fine!”

Within the context of the story, this is just hyperbole. Of course Byakuya experiences things differently, he's incredibly rich and powerful, etc, etc, but the thing that sticks in my head about this is that Byakuya is fundamentally different from Hisagi, and also Hitsugaya and Hinamori, who are the protagonists of this piece, because he is a creature of Soul Society and they are not.

The Rukon is a place for ghosts. For beings that lived a life on Earth and died. It is an afterlife. A thing I find incredibly interesting is that nearly all the Rukon-hailing shinigami we know of died as children. Additionally, they are all Really Good at being shinigami--captains and vice-captains, although this is a function of Bleach being a story about the more powerful members of Soul Society. Anyway, I think this is not a coincidence.

Two things that are true about Bleach are that: a) liminal things, hybrid things, things that exist at the boundaries of two other things, tend to be more powerful b) power is also achieved through transformation

It makes 100% sense to me that a child ghost has more potential to become in Soul Society. We also know that aging is non-linear, and that age changes tend to come in concert with increases in power. All of this feels very consistent and right to me.

In particular, consider Rukia, who died as a baby (and we don't know this for sure, but her sister, who died as an older child or teen did not seem to have the same potential). She was human, but only got to live a small fraction of the life she could have, and instead, went to Soul Society, and became such a creature of Soul Society, that she not only achieved bankai, but trained in the Royal Realm, a thing that few other shinigami get to do.

This reminded me of a line from my own fanfic, Hold On, Hold On, where I was trying to make sense of the "lieutenant is equivalent of nobility" thing (through the convenient mouthpieces of Kira and Hinamori):

“High ranking shinigami are basically considered to be nobility,” Izuru explains. “Or close enough for most purposes.” “The argument goes,” Momo elaborates, in a way that she knows will resonate with Renji, “that the reason nobles are noble is because their souls are so pure and strong, right? So how else can you explain the captains that come from Rukongai? You can’t, so you have to act like they’re noble, too, right? Noble logic.”

And while I don't think I'm wrong, what if there's more to it? What if there is something that is fundamental to one's nature that nobles and powerful shinigami have in common, something that also corresponds to the nature of the Seireitei.

There's one other thing that I think they may have in common, and that's the ability to reproduce. Fanon is split on this topic, but I've always been of the mind that having babies in Soul Society is something only people with strong spiritual energy are able to do. So, in that sense, if noble people see themselves as defined by having been born in the Soul Society, of being creatures who have never lived, it's not exactly the same, but a Rukongai wandering soul who gains the ability to reproduce is certainly a step closer, no?

(Is this the part where I talk about Soul Society nobility and their parallels to faeries, with their low birthrate and stealing babies and people of talent to join their underground magical kingdom?)

An interesting ramification of all of this, is that you've got Rukia and Renji, who represent one of the most successful cases of dead souls acclimating to Soul Society and reaching the highest echelons of power, but I strongly suspect that there are still some fundamentally Rukon things about them-- things they see, things they feel, things they remember. What makes this extra cool to me is the fact that they hang out with Byakuya, the product of dozens of generations of Soul Society lineage. In fact, the catalyst for all of this thinking was me thinking about Byakuya having an instinctive distrust of the sea, whereas Rukia and Renji and Hisana all love it. Now, I am generally not very interested in Ichika, but I am interested in the fact that she is something different than her parents. That on some level she has more in common with Byakuya. I mean, is this the origin stories for Soul Society's noble clans in the first place? Some souls made themselves powerful enough to make more of themselves?? That is a pretty interesting thought to me, not that I've come up with anything interesting to do with it. It's like, what if you were a changeling, and you got adopted by the king of the faeries and you had a baby with another human changeling, but your baby was a faery? (Polynya, this was the plot of Books of Magic. Kinda sorta. You have somehow achieved your life goal of six degrees of John Constantine-ing Tim Hunter and Kuchiki Rukia and it was entirely by accident.)

Anyway, that was my complete quota of interesting Ichika thoughts for today (I still think it would have been cooler if they got to conceive a baby in the Royal Realm but no one asked me).

The more interesting direction that these thoughts took goes back to B3's fic, in the sense of: do the nobles avoid the Rukon? What is it that they don't like about it? The implication is always just basically that it's poor and not as nice as the Seireitei, but what if there are things that are in opposition to the law and order that people like Yamamoto have imposed on the controlled area inside the city walls. Even the Shiba, the infamous rebel outcasts only live in District 1.

Consider Ukitake's backstory--his noble family were so desperate to save their sick child that they went out to District 76 and made a deal with a god/a piece of the Soul King (is there a difference? does it matter?), a thing which gave Ukitake the capability to become a vessel for a god. I feel like Mimihagi wouldn't/couldn't have made that deal with an ordinary soul. This happened a super long time ago and I bet there have been all kinds of cautionary tales, etc, to discourage this kind of behavior today. (Which also ties a little into Yhwach's "the Gotei used to be better, you suck now" comment)

I'm not really converging on any sort of conclusion, here, it's just sort of interesting to me. The Rukongai sort of represents wild lawlessness, I think, the loss of rules and sense. The TYBW is all about how the order of Soul Society (and Hueco Mundo and the Living World) is a thing that was invented for and by the shinigami for their own benefit, and I think they don't even really have control of their entire realm, just the central bit.

There's a constant fanon outcry of "why do the shinigami neglect Rukongai?" and it's always because "Soul Society sucks" and "Central 46 is dicks" etc, but I think it's interesting to think about the shinigami as a social order that truly has limited power, and that there is a lot of shit in the Rukon that is more than is dreamt of in their philosophy, if you get my drift, whether it's werewolf clans or trains that don't obey the laws of time and space. It's like the way in a horror movie, the cop or the army dude gets taken down by the monster in the woods who is eventually defeated by a teen or something. Shinigami are very powerful when it comes to dealing with the interface between the World of the Living and their personal World of the Dead, but they are less well equipped to deal with the things in their own backyard.

Regretfully, none of this cohered in my head into anything that I could spin into a good story (I'm not sure they even cohered into this essay), but maybe it will roll around in my head long enough to grow a pearl, who knows?

#bleach worldbuilding #this is so long i am sorry this is mostly nonsense #the beach was very beautiful today!

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thedrunkenreadersreviews · 7 months

Text

Review of "A Curse for True Love"

SPOILERS, BEWARE! 👻

For tonight's review, let's sip a little bit of some fine, spiked apple cider (it seemed incredibly fitting) and talk about this book.

*Sip, sip*

Now, let's start off with the previous two books in the Broken Heart trilogy by Stephanie Garber real quick.

*Sip, sip*

Going into the trilogy, I hated Jacks. Not for the reason you think. I hated Jacks because of how Garber depicted him in the Caraval trilogy---which is perfect! I had not come across a villain I enjoyed reading and loved to hate until I came across Jacks. It was amazing! And when I found out he was getting his own sequel trilogy I felt obliged to give it a try. So I picked up "Once Upon a Broken Heart" and read through it with a bit of drag until the crypt scene 😳. And then there was Ballad.

*Long sip, sip*

Ahhhhhhhh, "The Ballad of Never After." That was my guilty pleasure. My sweet symphony. The only time I felt Garber getting risqué with her writing and I ate. It. Up. Like I needed to stop so my cheeks would calm down. I felt the tension between Jacks and Eva, I felt the yearning, and then I felt the heartache. All without a single kiss between them. THAT is an accomplishment on Garber's part, so bravo to her! 👏 I typically don't cry when reading books. It takes a lot. While I did not cry at the end of Ballad, I did shed a tear and felt devastated.

"Time will take something of equal value from you."

"There is nothing of equal value to me."

And then *BOOM* memory gone! Eva is no longer yours yet again!

Well played, Garber.

*Sip, sip*

Now my anticipation for "A Curse for True Love" was over the moon. I hadn't been that excited for a book release since "The Queen of Nothing" by Holly Black. Now, did Curse live up to my expectations ...

*Sip, sip*

...

*Sip, sip*

Unfortunately, no. BUT! I do not think it is nearly as bad as other people say it is nor do I believe it is beyond the possibilities of being redeemed in the future (more on that later).

Where did it glow?

The ending. Honestly, I agree with most reviewers that the last 20% of the book was top-tier. What the entire book should have been. How fantastic it could have been. In fact, the last 20% of the book is the reason why I do not believe it is as bad as people are saying. Do I wish the love confession was a bit more ... well, more? At least on Jacks' part, yes. I thought Eva's confession was beautiful and perfect and stunning in every way. I love how the first kiss happened and it made sense that she took charge of it given that Jacks was utterly terrified of her dying again. I was, for the first time, hoping Eva (the MFC) confessed first because I felt it was the boost that Jacks would need to trust himself to not only kiss her but believe that she actually loves him since he deems himself as unlovable and a villain, even in his own story.

I wish---so desperately wish---that Jacks had showered Eva's face in kisses when he realized she would not die from them. I wish it led to a scene that contained the heat (not spice, just heat) that a lot of the scenes from "Ballad" possessed. I think it would have just tied up their journey of falling in love and trusting each other, as well as themselves, nicely because moments like that do require an awful amount of trust. Scenes like that are not meant to just get the reader hot and bothered, especially not in YA books. No, us adults are mere visitors in the realm of YA and we must keep that in mind when it comes to these types of scenes. Moments like those are useful in storytelling if done properly and can be utilized as a form of character development and character relationship development, as it could have been done here. Was it necessary? No, but it could have added something to both the characters as individuals as well as their relationship with each other since a majority of that relationship was about trust and denial of feelings.

The rest of the ending though, was exceptional. Jacks punching Apollo was sooooooooo satisfying and I love how the countdown to this book's release included Apollo getting punched in the face by Jacks actually came into existence. Seeing the Valors and Jacks interact was incredible and I felt the familiarity between them (I mean Jacks is the only one with the ENORMOUS STONES to punch not one but two Valors and stab another). I love how Lala and Jacks have such a brother-sister relationship. I adore Jacks' disdain for Aurora and his utter devotion towards Eva.

*Sip, sip*

And another thing, I thought the characters WERE acting like themselves (for the most part). Eva was acting like herself before her memories returned and especially after. I thought Apollo was acting like himself and it was made very clear based on what Garber revealed in his POVs (which I did believe were essential for the plot). His actions made sense based on what he had gone through and what he endured. I do not sympathize with Apollo but I understood his actions. I also think we saw some growth from him in this book, specifically because of his POVs and I enjoyed that.

The only one who didn't seem to fully be acting like themselves in the beginning and the beginning only was Jacks---but THAT MADE SENSE.

*Sip, sip*

You see, at that point, Jacks was in love with Eva. He knew it. The North knew it. Time knew it. The Story Curse knew it. We knew it. The only person who didn't know it was Eva herself. Believing he had already met his true love, despite being in love with Eva, he was terrified that he would kill her. He had no idea Apollo took her memories, he thought Time did (which, it did, to be fair and I still believe that taking Eva's memories through Apollo was Time's way of taking Eva from Jacks even if she didn't die). However, so obsessed with her and in love with her was he that he couldn't just leave. He HAD to find excuses to stay because he wasn't ready to let go. I would have loved to see Jacks try to find a way to restore Eva's memories, kidnap her, bring her to the Hollow, try to convince her that he was the one she was supposed to be with. BUT I understand why Garber took the route of Jacks trying to step away from Eva.

One scene I was really hoping to see was something along the lines of Eva reading her letter, arguing with Jacks, trying to stay away from Jacks but Jacks not relenting and alone, preferably in the Hollow, Eva breaks and says something along the lines of "My mind and my words are telling me to hate you, to not trust you. Yet my heart yearns for you like it belongs to you. Like you're my home." Alas, we cannot have everything we desire.

*Sip, sip*

Oh, and yes, I love how Garber answered the apple question. We always suspected and I love how she made us into the Story Curse, wanting to know the answer to that one burning question that we have had ever since Legendary. That was beautifully done.

*Sip, sip*

Now, where does it sour?

*Sip, sip*

The first 80% of the book with the exception of a few scenes. Every scene with Jacks and Eva I thought was great. I still felt the tension and I enjoyed how Eva still had feelings for Jacks even when not having memories of him. Every scene Jacks was in was gold. I particularly enjoyed that midnight chat he had with Castor. You really get a sense of just how much Jacks and Castor have leaned on each other throughout the years. Which brings me to my greatest gripes with this book:

*Sip, sip, sip*

While the ending is not spelt out, I don't believe Jacks is a Fate anymore. It was established (like a lot of things) in the Caraval trilogy that immortal beings lose their immortality but not their powers when they fall in love. Jacks obviously falls in love with Eva as Legend fell in love with Tella, but it has to be a clear decision on the immortal's part to give in to their love and accept their mortal life with their mortal lover. So while Jacks is in love with Eva by the end of Ballad and obviously throughout Curse, he saw it as no good, that their love would not be enough to break his curse and he would kill her because she was not Tella so there was no chance nor point in him giving up his immortality (which he gained so Castor wouldn't be alone which like, awwwwwww sweet Jacks is a ride or die homie 🥺). However, he does give in to his love and chooses to stay with Eva when they are at the Phoenix Tree. So while he still possesses his powers, albeit not to the extent that he used to as evident from later events, he is no longer immortal, no longer a Fate as I think Garber hints at by calling him a "not-quite-human boy." Not quite human because he used to be a Fate and still possesses his powers. It is like calling Legend a not-quite-human boy because he still has his magic.

*Sip, sip*

But my biggest issue with the book, the thing that really disappoints me, its unforgivable sin, is the LACK of Eva and Jacks together. More time should have been dedicated to them as a couple, finding their way back to each other. Had the plot of the last 20% of the book been expanded into the majority plot of the book, MAN would this thing have blown me away.

Seeing evil Jacks again, reading how awful he could be reminded me of just how fantastic of a villain he was in Caraval and just how much I missed that evil side of him. Damn, I missed me some Prince of Hearts vileness. It was delicious! Ahhhhhh....

*Sip, sip*

But, there are also the many questions I still have and while having questions at the end is not always a bad thing, a reader shouldn't have more questions than answers. Some questions I feel I have been cheated out of the answers of are:

Who exactly was the first fox?

How did Jacks beat the Archer's Curse?

How did Jacks become a Fate?

Why the Prince of Hearts Fate?

Who the heck put the Valors in the arch?

What happened to the cuff?

Finally, while I do love tragic backstories and having Jacks' heart have been broken pretty much for his entire adult life to the point where he had lost all hope is exceptionally tragic, the whole twist on Jacks' lethal kiss curse was ... bad. That tragedy of Jacks constantly killing a potential happily ever after could have remained without his curse having been rewritten. I appreciate Aurora being the one to curse him with the Archer's Curse but for her to be responsible for the thing that essentially makes him the FATED Prince of Hearts took so much mysticism and magical whimsy out of his Fate status for me. Like, I would have loved it to be tied directly to his Fate status and Fate design, not something he entered Fate status already cursed with.

*Sip, sip, sip,sip*

Now, how can it be redeemed?

Well, I mentioned previously my anticipation for "The Queen of Nothing." And while I did enjoy that book, it didn't live up to my expectations either and I believe it is the weakest in the trilogy. That does NOT mean it's bad, it just isn't what it could have been much like this book. But it was redeemed with a simple novella.

And I believe the same could happen here. Should Garber answer some of those questions that we are still reeling over in a novella, I think it would appease a lot of the disappointed fans. A novella about Jacks becoming a Fate, of the whole debacle at Merrywood Manor, Jacks' time in the Hollow, befriending the Valors. Like, where did Jacks come from? A backstory on Jacks as we got a bit more depth on Cardan in his novella. Heck, Gabrer can even split it between past and present like Black did; give us domestic Jacks and Eva like we LOVED in Ballad while giving us a backstory on Jacks might just be able to save this book. Though, future Jacks and Eva, I do not foresee happening if we ever do return to this world considering the fact that there are three alternate endings out there.

*Sip, sip*

So, my dear readers and drinkers, is "A Curse for True Love" bad? No. Is it great? No. It is enjoyable, a nice ending to a heartbreaking love story, and satisfying. It wasn't exceptional, fantastic, or great, though it did have those moments within it. In essence, "Ballad" is exactly that; a sweet ballad, the shining star in this trilogy. My ranking of the books in order from best to weakest: Ballad, Once, Curse.

*Sip, sip*

And for all of you out there so horribly upset with this book, I do understand, but please, Ms. Garber does not deserve hatred. She is a kind-hearted human with a beautiful heart who just wants to write sweet love stories, and we should let her. I will always wish Eva and Jacks got a cataclysmic ending like they deserved upon a candle-lit dock with Lala and Castor and maybe even Luc being the only witnesses as they profess their love and promise to each other, but I am content knowing that they are at least together. Thank you, Stephanie Garber, for this beautiful trilogy. I hope that one day we get to return to this wonderful, magical realm.

Now with Halloween just around the corner, I raise my spiked apple cider to you and say this:

Happily live the Prince of Hearts, one of the only two blond-haired main male characters that I adore.

May peace always be with Eva, a fantastic female main character who wields not swords nor exceptional magic, but is just a hopeless romantic like the lot of us.

And goodnight to you, dear readers. Be well, and always, always keep it creepy and stay spooky, friends.

*Sip, sip*

#acftl #evajacks #jacks the prince of hearts #jacks x evangeline #stephanie garber #the ballad of never after #Once upon a broken heart #tbona #ouabh #acftl spoilers #review #acftl review #book review

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controlvariable · 4 months

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myth's game writeup of 2023

i waited until the new year to finish this in case i managed to beat a game during december. i did not. ANYWAY.

this will contain new games as well as games i only got around to in 2023. light on spoilers but be warned

Octopath Traveler II (2023)

as far as i remember, this was the first new game I played this year, and god did it deliver. I've been a fan of octopath since the first one came out on switch in 2018, counting it as my favorite game of all time, so to have a sequel after all this time was thrilling. it did almost everything octopath 1 did and better. new path actions, day/night system, branching stories, fucking boats?? incredible.

my biggest gripe has to be the new hidden classes. I started with throne so getting inventor 10 minutes after my chapter one did definitely fuck up the progression a little bit. I think I preferred ot1 hidden classes. while the dungeons were underwhelming, the boss battles really make you fight for these secret techniques, something absent in 3 out of the 4 hidden classes of octopath 2.

overall: 4/5 BP.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed (2023)

xenoblade 3 as the end of the klaus trilogy really didn't sit well with me, for reasons that don't belong on my review of its dlc, but future redeemed fixed nearly every problem i had with base xc3 — both story and gameplay wise. it ties every xenoblade game and even some of gears and saga into a neat little 40 hour bow, and is truly a love letter to the entire series. I can only think of one problem I still have with it. the fucking menu music.

where do i even fucking start with this one really. relatively speaking, I'm a new xenoblade fan, having started xc1 in march 2022 during a harrowing experience with adhd meds, and since then it had kinda consumed me. I finished it in about a week, went on to watch xenoblade 2 because I had heard the gameplay wasn't great, and got my hands on xenoblade 3 day of release.

overall: 5 dance apples.

Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (2023)

as someone who was not immune to the hype surrounding botw, I had high hopes for the sequel. hopes that were painfully, slowly, fed into a trash compactor over my playthrough. this is another game I got on release day, lining up outside gamestop in the heat, and lets not forget that it's the only first-party switch game with a price tag of seventy bucks.

the game plays like a tech demo. I have a lot of love in my heart for it. the story was better that botw, the world was more expansive than botw, but the problem here is that everything it does is directly compared to breath of the wild. it doesn't get enough time to shine, because we're in the exact same world as 6 years ago, but instead of pinkish black malice we have blackish pink gloom. i much prefer the runes to the zonai abilities, and the sense of wonder that permeated breath of the wild is replaced by a sense of nostalgia that just doesn't appeal to me much.

all of this isn't to say it's a bad game. I think it's a great game, honestly, but a great game that wasn't meant for me. I've seen the insane shit people do with ultrahand, but it just... isn't my style.

overall: 441/1000 korok seeds

Pikmin 4 (2023)

it's pikmin. i dont have much to say about it. it was a lot of fun, loved that part where i bulborbed all over those guys. im not a gameplay reviewer, at heart i mostly talk about story, and a game like pikmin doesn't have much for me to comment on. good fun. lived up to expectations. probably wouldn't replay.

overall: 7500 sparklium

Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood (2017)

oh, stormblood... the rage you still fill my veins with. I'm not going to spend too long on this one because I have better things to do with my life than shit on an expansion everyone already hates, but let me make it clear I actually do have reasons for disliking it.

having ala mhigo built up since the very start of a realm reborn, only to have half of the ala mhigo expansion take place halfway across the star, was very disappointing. the monotony of the three areas in gyr abania compared to the three far east areas was very disappointing. the treatment of the people of the steppe and honestly that entire segment in the main story quest was very disappointing. hien, as a character, in his entirety, was very disappointing.

I will say it had strong parts. the 61-70 quests for several jobs were the strongest in their entire story (see: dark knight). the dungeons started to get more interesting. it gave us the quest Child Labor, which is hilarious and I'll never be finishing it because I want it there forever.

overall: 1/3 WHM Lillies.

Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers (2019)

ffxiv immediately got better the second 4.0 was over. even the patch quests instantly shot up in quality. it's not even funny. the lead up to shadowbringers was the most fun I had had with the game since a realm reborn, and all of the first was heartbreaking to go through even though I was spoiled on That Character's Identity.

the duty trust system (is that what it was called?) made dungeons much more fun. getting to go through hell with alphinaud alisaie and thancred made everything 10x better, even if it was a lot slower. the story, again, heartbreaking — ryne's arc in particular felt like being stabbed by thousands of little needles while trying to play. in the best way, of course. and amaurot... amaurot. getting to quote our favorite knight in there was my 8th umbral calamity.

shadowbringers also marks when a lot of your job's functionality is really unlocked, so doing the level 80 raid series was genuinely a ton of fun. and again the thousands of little needles. i cried at least 7 times during the main story.

overall: 85/100 kenki gauge.

Katana Zero (2019)

possibly my favorite game this year. the protagonist, zero (or as i like to call him, katana from zero,) ticked all the boxes for a character I'd be absolutely obsessed with. true enough, i fell in love. the fast-paced gameplay, the diegesis of gameplay elements which would typically go unquestioned, and the care that seeps through every dialogue choice all solidify katana zero as one of my favorite game experiences ever. I'll leave it at this, because I encourage everyone to at least give it a try.

overall: Yes, that should work.

Fire Emblem Engage (2023)

this is one of the few 2023 releases on this list that I didn't get on launch, because at the time I had relatively little interest in fire emblem as a series. then I made a lot of friends who enjoy it, and in october, bestie sen decided to buy it for me as an early birthday present. everyone say thank you sen.

considering this is my first fire emblem game, i have absolutely no deeper insight into how it matches up compared to the others, and plenty of people more eloquent than me have already talked about that. what I do know is that the gameplay was surprisingly fun as my first tactical rpg, and the story was passable. all the characters were appealing in one way or another, and I'm still mad I had to choose between marrying kagetsu or fogado. they're both my husbands at heart.

overall: I didn't internalize enough of this game to come up with a clever rating.

Fire Emblem Engage: Fell Xenologue (2023)

I was expecting the dlc to continue the main story, so I put it off until I had finished the base game. in hindsight, I regret it, because I'd love to have brought the winds and twins with me to fight their evil versions and alternate universe dad. the story was... alright. I really liked all the small battle interactions between fell characters and our party members which they would've known. I instantly recognized fogado in chapter 1 because I am in love with him by the way.

overall: i dont know. 1¾ dragonstones

with 2024 upon us, I'll probably be writing reviews for games as I play them. I'm trying to use tumblr more as a social platform instead of just reblogging. we'll see how that plays out. if you like any of these games (yes, even tears of the kingdom) please talk to me about them! that's all for now. look out for my mangled thoughts on SANABI and Nier: Automata next :)

#op #long #octopath traveler 2 #tears of the kingdom #xenoblade chronicles 3 #future redeemed #pikmin 4 #ffxiv #stormblood #shadowbringers #katana zero #fire emblem engage #fell xenologue

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mmslooney007 · 1 year

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The (long-ish) Review No One Needed Or Asked For ™ - Till The End of the Moon

Character-wise

Li Susu is our leading lady who travels back in time before the Devil God was, well, the Devil God and just the Devil Fetus *insert snickering here* because, "Maybe I can fix him and kill him." Morally ambiguous at times? Caught between feelings and justice? Sign me up.

Tantai Jin is the Devil Fetus *more snickering* who had it rough since Day 1. He literally came out the womb and it was that time. Pathetic hostage prince, manipulator, benevolent ruler, Wife Guy-- Cang Jiumin. My guys wears hats (wigs).

I'm a Susu apologist and to all you commenters who whined, Susu just love him and stop blah blah blah, No! She understood some of the assignment. Our characters are flawed, no one is perfect, (except one (1) Square and Vixen I said what I said) and you will be suing for emotional damages.

Plot-wise

We start off in real-time, where we see the Devil God (yassified) freaking wreck the 3 realms and 4 continents. Susu enters the fight with her weapon of choice (don't bring a harp to a knife fight) and is given the artifact that will make me overthink any timeline where time travel is involved. Before she goes back, she witnesses the death of everyone she loves very conveniently, because plot, die at the hands of the CGI crew (all of whom, might I add, deserve a raise).

500 years earlier, she is inserted into the body of Abuser, Ye Xiwu. Stockholm Syndrome or True Love? We don't know, but Tantai Jin (fetus) will somehow grow to love his wife (sidenote: he totally did something to himself peep episode 5/6 where that tree thing grows)(other side note, what's up with the continuous motif of tree and feelings? see: LBFAD).

I feel like the arc within an arc, though long and somewhat useful, could have been useful-er. I'm docking points for not nodding at plot thingies more for havimg lasted about 7 episodes but having 5 relevant points to the plot. Fight me. (Also, they fall in love in this lifetime but they're not them-- it's just continued contemplation of "why was I casted as x," when they can't freaking math and make it make sense).

Then after the Great Misunderstanding of episodes 24&25, we have to see our tragic love story be more tragic and wrap up this lifetime before we go Back to the Present (Future). If you haven't already, you will be cheering on our favorite Baddie being Badder.

Then we get stupid in the immortal rea-- housing development? Cang Jiumin is Tantai Jin in a different-ish wig pre yassification. He does more cultivating. He gets more hurt and scorn. He gets some action with his wife. He gets an outfit change.

The ending? I'm sobbing. I have been touched and I'm crying as I type this.

The Good, The Bad, The WTF

I liked that they were so enemies to lovers that I honestly did not see how they were going to ever be lovers. Good.

I liked our cast of characters-- brother Qingyu is the Square, Pian Ran is our favorite Vixen, Nian Baiyu needs a raise and Xiao Lin is Just Ken. Love it.

Episodes 36 and on-- the Bad.

Episode 39-- WTF. What made him think let's have this banging Goth Wedding so you'll hate me because, "I hate you." Yes, we are pseudo sleeping together in my Bo'Re Life because, "Susu you gotta hate me too," and when will the logic ever happen? I just think he needed to think through his justifications for his advancement of death more. Felt half baked imo.

And who made the rules? I thought when he absorbs the Devil God's Favorite Things and the evil bone *persistent snickering* then it was evil onsite? Last time I checked, Jin was still home.

Who decided Sang Jiu taking away Ming Ye's voice during The Sex was sexy (see: a dream within a dream)?!

Why did y'all embrace the freaking Lord of Evil when he's called The LORD of EVIL. Get me outta the simulation!

Shoutout

To the Viki comments section. Y'all was the best of all'em. From Naruto, to Death Note, Rolex and Nasa, and Team Rocket. I was rolling.

My Rating...

8/10 for Tantai Jin's outfits as Emperor and Devil God.

I like 'em bad.

#cdrama #review #spoilers #till the end of the moon #tteotm #bai lu #luo yunxi

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miloscat · 7 months

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[Review] Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (PS4)

Dark Souls But I Can Only Parry

Continuing my very sporadic playthrough of From Software's games, it's Sekiro! I knew going in that it's deliberately breaking the Souls mould in certain ways, but I didn't always get on with its choices and experiments. It's a narrower, more focused experience, which works both for it and against it.

The setting is Japan—yes, the country on Earth—late in the Sengoku period. It's not exactly historically accurate though, as you encounter phantasms, fishmen, strangely intelligent animals, supernatural ninja powers, and forces divine and demonic; and yet it's more grounded than some "fantasy Japan" games I've played. The part of me that loves to make connections between From's games was a tad disappointed that this takes place on The Earth when it didn't necessarily need to be, but that's a nitpick.

Having a strong sense of place and tone was a part of what endeared Bloodborne to me, and that applies here too. I have come to appreciate Elden Ring's complex and layered lore more over time, but both approaches have merit. In the case of Sekiro, it's a personal story with a small cast of connected characters. I struggled at times to grasp the precise political situation and how they fit into it but the themes of how various people and factions struggled for immortality and how it corrupted them in turn resonated.

The story and themes come together in the person of the player character Wolf, a ninja sworn to loyalty and protection of Kuro, a golden child who inherited the powers of a godly dragon. Many seek to exploit his gift but he bestows on Wolf the power of resurrection, which serves as a gameplay mechanic to help you bounce back from defeats (which will be many). Their ultimate goal is to rid Kuro of this tainted gift, which is done through a series of convoluted steps that take you to the corners of the isolated Ashina fiefdom and beyond to the divine realm.

Wolf's nature as a specified character ties into the removal of many RPG elements, relative to other Soulslike games. His ninja skills and prosthetic arm open the door to many new gameplay features: acrobatic grappling, various limited-use combat tools, and stealth takedowns. I enjoyed engaging with the sneaking to pick off enemies, and combat while risky is ultimately satisfying, but I felt restricted by the emphasis on consumable items and what I saw as prescriptions on how the game is to be played.

I spoke about a narrow focus: Sekiro's combat is all about the back and forth of parrying. More important than an enemy or boss's health bar is their posture meter, which is worn down by your attacks or by blocking theirs with precise timing. The lack of a stamina mechanic and speed of your attacks rewards aggressive play, but you can't just go all-out; you absolutely must read cues that suggest counterattacks, and on top of this learn the timing and behaviours of the various enemies. I particularly struggled with the more difficult attacks: grabs, thrusts, and sweeps are denoted by a warning kanji and have totally different responses, but in the heat of the moment I could never distinguish between three complex characters. They could have at least made them different colours!

More than any other From game, I got mightily upset with certain encounters and sequences. I was walled hard by difficulty spikes in the early game, with little recourse but to push through by repeated attempts. My chief nemesis: a simple one-armed ninja in a cramped well who becomes a regular mook later in the game! The midgame was more to my liking when things opened up and I got more of a grip on the mechanics and flow, but lategame bosses and the final fight completely stomped my arse again. Looking up tricks and strategies online helped, but you still have to build muscle memory yourself.

Sekiro doesn't seem to want to help you develop it though. FromSoft has implemented needlessly player-hostile mechanics before, but death in Sekiro is especially punishing. You'll instantly lose half your money and experience towards your latest skill point, unless a percentage chance happens to save you, and this chance goes down the more you die! It's actually not too bad if you go out of your way to farm XP and spend your dosh when you know there's a boss coming, but death can happen at any time, and the in-game economy felt out of wack while the skill trees are bloated with dubious abilities.

Overall I think Sekiro is a success. It builds on a Souls skeleton but with new flavours (to mix some metaphors), and delivers a cool ninja fantasy with some powerful imagery and setpieces. I just can't decide if its action-adventure mechanics make it more accessible than other From games, or if the prescriptive parry playstyle and lack of levelling make it a harder sell. My feelings are mixed; I'm glad I played it but also relieved to have beaten it... it can't hurt me anymore!

#sekiro #from software #souls #review #ps4

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beneaththetangles · 1 year

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Review: Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid

Last year was an exciting year to be a Rascal Does Not Dream fan, with the announcement of a new anime project adapting the eighth and ninth volumes in the series, as well as the Japanese release of the latest volume—two years after the previous one! Not to mention the English release of the eighth volume, which we reviewed in conversation several months ago.

Today, we continue the tradition by bringing you a conversation-style review of the ninth volume from Hajime Kamoshida: Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid. Adolescent Syndrome is back and this time, it comes in the form of an elementary school kid who looks suspiciously like Mai… Besides that, Sakuta’s mother asks for a family reunion almost two years after the incident with Kaede split the parents from their children. Sounds exciting! But family dynamics are never that simple, and soon enough, Sakuta finds himself wrestling with how to forgive and find healing from the pain of their absence that still lingers.

It’s a lovely volume, with a story that’s delicate and reflective—as we’ve come to expect from the Rascal series—but surprisingly deliberate and deep as well. Give it a read if you haven’t yet! Or else beware of spoilers ahead…

Without further ado, let’s dive into Knapsack Kid!

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sleepminusminus: I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Knapsack Kid is my favorite volume in this series. Part of it is that this is the volume where Sakuta faces the fact that he’s almost an adult now, something I’m going to have to do once I graduate college and can’t pretend I’m a young, spry student any longer.

But this volume also excels in intentional, subtle storytelling. Case in point: at the beginning of the book, when young Mai appears, Kamoshida is careful not to say too much about her identity. Instead, she exchanges some short words with Sakuta and then leaves, intentionally creating a sense of anticipation for her return later in the book. Another example: when Mai’s mother comes to congratulate her daughter on graduating, rather than telling us directly that Mai is trying to reconcile with her, Kamoshida reveals it subtly through Mai’s earnest demeanor and an ensuing conversation with Sakuta. That conversation allows Mai to talk about her relationship with her mom and family dynamics, ideas that find parallels in Sakuta’s later interactions with his family.

Kamoshida skillfully lays the groundwork for the entire book in its opening pages. And that’s part of what gives this volume such a quiet, gentle tone, just like the previous volume, even though there’s more packed in this time around.

Twwk: I agree. Although the use of Adolescent Syndrome as a plot device once again thrusts the series into the realm of the fantastical, this volume still feels more grounded than earlier ones. I think that’s because the novel is centered on a story that most of us can relate to in some way. You don’t have to be a second fiddle sister, the victim of severe bullying, or even, as you mention, a student on the verge of entering the “real world” to identify with Mai and Sakuta here. Simply having struggled in a close relationship and not knowing how to resolve things is enough for this volume to hit hard.

I thought it was clever for Kamoshida to begin the narrative with Mai’s path forward with her mother. It certainly sets the stage for Sakuta’s journey, but I feel that it’s perhaps also emblematic of the author’s own growth as a writer. I’ve complained over and over about how contrived many of the volumes have been, and although this volume is not completely free of convenient plot devices (e.g. “I won’t ask Shouko, who probably knows the reason for this volume’s Adolescent Syndrome, because angst”), there’s surprising subtlety here too.

Knapsack Kid featured so many storylines I didn’t expect from a series that has engaged me from a heart level more than a head level, and which often hits the right emotional tones while yet leaving me rolling my eyes at how elementary the writing is. But several plot elements here—from Sakuta being at the center of the volume, to his mother coming back into the picture and the possibility of his family being made whole again, to the fact that the visible, unusual, and practically unbelievable absence of his mother was openly addressed—saw Knapsack Kid prove itself over and over again to be a more serious and tightly-knit work than past volumes. Much like its characters, the series itself seems to be growing up.

The “knapsack kid” and the rest of the characters are coming theaters!

sleepminusminus: Yes! One of the themes I appreciated most was how Kamoshida shows our need for forgiveness. We see this early on with Mai committing to forgive her mother. But Mai’s forgiveness is more dutiful than it is heartfelt, which raises all kinds of questions about the nature of forgiveness. It also leads to the more immediate question: “Can Sakuta forgive his mother?” He clearly wants to forgive her and takes steps toward doing so: when she asks to meet with Sakuta and Kaede, they jump at the opportunity.

Yet Sakuta doesn’t realize how deeply his mother’s absence has hurt him. It’s such a deep wound that, in classic Adolescence Syndrome fashion, it makes Sakuta disappear altogether. Kamoshida’s logic is this: if Sakuta can’t forgive his mother, he’s shutting the door on their relationship, cutting himself off from the person who brought him into the world. We might disagree with that logic, but the point is this: forgiveness isn’t something Sakuta can afford to take lightly. It’s a matter that is vital to his very existence. He desperately needs to forgive.

You see, all this time, Sakuta has shut away his guilt and regret about his relationship with his parents—if you can even call it a relationship! Ever since Kaede’s Adolescence Syndrome in middle school and its effects on his mother, Sakuta had to learn how to foot the bills for himself and Kaede without his parents’ financial or emotional support. All this time, he’s been in survival mode, ignoring the wounds of his parents’ neglect and suppressing his longing for a loving family. But he can’t keep running forever—he needs to turn around, face his hurt and bitterness, forgive his mother, and begin the work of reconciliation.

That’s a message we need to hear, especially in our present moment. On the one hand, we have an abundance of flowery Bible verse art reminding us of the power of forgiveness, and on the other hand, we harbor so much division in our hearts and communities. We pass by so many opportunities to live out forgiveness in a tangible way, in places where it hurts the most. We love the idea of forgiveness but scorn the actual act. It’s true that forgiving others is never easy, comfortable, or even desirable. It always comes at a cost. But the life that comes after forgiveness is more beautiful, complete, and satisfying than one spent in judgment and resentment, locking up our hurt and tossing away the key.

Twwk: Sakuta is like a damaged boiler that gives warmth to everyone around it, but is headed toward an explosion. He works and works and works for the benefit of everyone around him until he explodes. He ignores his own feelings until it’s too late. I would definitely say that I’m somewhat like Sakuta in that regard, and I think a lot of people could say the same. But part of adulthood is to be vulnerable enough to work through the hurt and weaknesses as they come up, rather than pushing them down and hoping they’ll go away, which they never do. Sakuta stored all that hurt away, in part because he had to wait for his mom to get to the point where she was willing to see Kaede again, but also as a defense mechanism. Adolescent Syndrome now gives him the opportunity to grow out of adolescence and face his challenges like an adult.

Isn’t it interesting that Adolescent Syndrome, as troubling as it is, pushes the characters to grow? To become whole? In this volume, Mai has graduated and Sakuta is now a senior, diligently studying so that he can gain admittance into the same university as her. He’s also set Kaede on the path she needs to be on. He takes care of the household. He holds down a job. In short, Sakuta is transitioning into adulthood. But the one thing he’s lacking is a restored relationship with his mom.

sleepminusminus: It is interesting! It’s also ironic because Sakuta plays a role in this volume usually reserved for the “heroines” of the series. This time he’s the one who struggles with Adolescence Syndrome, as well as the one who receives help and support from others. I love how his Syndrome involves being invisible to the world, just as Mai’s did at the beginning of the series. Their roles have been flipped, and Mai stays by Sakuta’s side, comforting him, lending him an ear, and being present as he begins to face himself.

As you said, being an adult means being vulnerable enough to uncover those wounds that fester in the deepest parts of ourselves so that we can begin the process of healing. There’s pain involved, but there’s also fulfillment in treasuring little moments of growth, anticipating better things to come, and walking alongside friends who support us on the journey. I appreciated how this novel portrays this complexity, painting a realistic picture of what it looks like for our beloved characters to grow beyond their teenage selves.

With that said, I’m anxious that the upcoming movies won’t capture the complexity that makes these novels so good. The Dreaming Girl movie suffered in this way, as you mentioned in your review, Twwk. True, that was partly because of the source material, and partly because the film rushed through the content at the expense of subtlety, leaving the characters’ motivations out of the picture. Thankfully, Venturing Out and this book are being adapted in separate movies, so there’s plenty of runtime to work with. Here’s hoping the adaptation does justice to the richness that this volume has to offer.

Twwk: I’m optimistic that the Knapsack Kid film will get it right. We keep pointing toward the subtleties in the book, but actually, it’s a relatively straightforward text with a very clear outline of events, characters we already know and love, and as you mentioned, plenty of run time (presumably) to cover one short light novel. I’m excited for it to make it to screen—and for more of the Rascal Does Not Dream series generally, as we move into the next stage of Sakuta and Mai’s lives, relationship, and story: Bunny Girl Senpai and Wisemouth Kohai in college, all grown up. - @animepopheart

And that concludes our review! What did you think about the latest Rascal volume? Excited for the upcoming anime project, or worried that it won’t live up to the hype? Let us know what you think in the comments.

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Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid is published by Yen Press.

READ: Rascal Does Not Dream reviews Vol. 1 // Vol. 2 // Vol. 3 // Vol. 4 // Vol. 5 // Vol. 6 // Vol. 7 // Vol. 8

#Anime #Light Novels #Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid #Seishun Buta Yarou wa Randoseru Girl no Yume wo Mina #Rascal Does Not Dream #Forgiveness #Seishun Buta Yarou #Reviews #Anime Blog #Anime Article #Light Novel Reviews #Light Novel Article #Light Novel Blog #Articles #Author: sleepminusminus #Author: TWWK #Christian Otaku #Christian Anime

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