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the-sprog · 13 days

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Thinking about Hakuba just reaching his limit. He realizes that everyone involved in trying to catch KID has been a bad detective, because everyone (him included. ESPECIALLY him) seems to be obsessed with figuring out the "who?" that they've never stopped to question "why?"

When he confronts Inspector Nakamori he gets told that of course they've investigated his reasonings! That good for nothing thief is just greedy/an adrenaline junkie/does it for the thrill/to humiliate the police/etc.

But Hakuba knows this is not the same Kaito KID as when Inspector Nakamori was first assigned to the case.

He's missing something. And he doesn't know what.

It drives him up the wall. He tries figuring it out at the next few heists, but he comes up with nothing. There's no more clues/information to add to those he already had.

So he does the only logical thing.

Trap everyone involved in catching KID in a room that's ventilated as little as possible and release various pallets of truth serum in gas form. Y'know. Like a reasonable person.

Inspector Nakamori, Conan, Hakuba, and Ran (chaperoning) get caught alongside KID and get a lungful dose of truth serum.

Now, before anyone says anything, I know truth serum isn't an actual thing. The way that it's logicked to work is that it lowers inhibitions, loosens your lips basically, and makes you more susceptible to speaking before you can think about it. But of course, it doesn't actually mean people are forced to answer questions or to tell the truth.

But Hakuba is at the end of his wits.

Gonna write a snippet hold on (future Sprog speaking: this ended up being a full-on one shot. So here's the AO3 link if you want to read there)

"Taking a page out of my book, detective-san?" KID asks, the same cocksure smile ever present on his face. It annoys Hakuba. It always has. It's the same expression for every occasion, no matter what KID is saying or doing.

As long as he's not being someone else.

"It's not knockout gas," Hakuba says. He doesn't yet feel like the words are being ripped out of his mouth, but that's to be expected. He's been preparing for this confrontation. "It's truth serum."

From the corner of his vision he sees Edogawa-kun flinch. He would've given it more attention if he had any to spare.

Kaito KID tilts his head and hums. Hakuba can't see it due to the shadow from KID's hat, but he's sure KID is looking him straight in the eyes.

"Saguru-kun?" Inspector Nakamori is the first to break the silence. "If this is about-"

"Why?" It's as much of a response for the inspector as it is a question directed towards the thief himself. "I've never asked myself that question, when it comes to you. A gross oversight, a mistake unbecoming of someone calling himself a detective."

KID's smile doesn't falter, not that Hakuba expected it to. But the fact he hasn't up and left tells him he at least got the thief curious.

"I've been so caught up in trying to unmask you, that I didn't stop to think about why you do it."

"Saguru-kun-"

"I know what you said, Inspector. But your observations are at least 9 years too old. They don't hold up to the current Kaito KID."

Some silence. To his side, Hakuba can faintly hear Edogawa-kun hyperventilating while Mouri-san tries to calm him down to no success. Edogawa-kun wasn't listening to her, too intent on following the conversation.

And then Inspector Nakamori speaks. "You think this is a copycat? That all this time we've been following a fake?"

"I believe we've been following a legacy," Hakuba answers. "Either that, or something happened during his hiatus that made him change his Modus Operandi."

"My, my, detective-san. I'm flattered to know I spend so much time living in your head," KID gets up. "Well, it's been fun to hear your theories, but I think we should cut this visit short, don't you? I believe the curtain call has been way overdue," he says.

"If you leave you have no way of knowing how long the serum will stay in your system," Hakuba stops him. He can't lose Kaito KID's attention now. "And the rest of the gas that's been stagnating in this room will be released to the audience outside these doors."

That seems to do the trick. "Detective-san! I didn't expect you to be the first one to crack!"

"I want to know why you do it. No one else seems to want to focus on that question."

"I did," comes a voice from his right. Edogawa-kun slaps his hands over his mouth as soon as he registers that the words have left his brain faster than he could control.

"Conan-kun?" Mouri-san asks. She's crouched to be eye level with the kid, but Edogawa-kun's eyes are squeezed shut.

"My littlest critic has once again bested everyone else in this room, hasn't he?" KID chuckles. "Bravo, oh great detective!" He claps his hands. "Bravo!"

Hakuba gets his eyes to focus back on the thief. "So Edogawa-kun noticed something we didn't."

"And neglected to share with the class, it seems." KID shakes his head mockingly. "For shame, great detective. For shame. I thought you were all for truth and justice."

Edogawa-kun opens his eyes enough to glare at Kaito KID, which only succeedes in making the thief's smile sharper.

The mocking tone in KID's voice makes Mouri-san snap her attention on him, glare equally as present on her face. "He's just a child, you perverted thief." Her eyes widen in shock as she realizes what she said.

Kaito KID raises his hands in front of him. "I had to make sure you knew the truth!"

"There were a million other ways you could've done that!"

"Oh, but none would've bothered detective-kun as much as messing with you, now would they?" His smile doesn't falter even as Mouri-san's (and Edogawa-kun's) glare gets more intense.

"He's misdirecting us!" Edogawa-kun points out.

"But you know why he does it."

"The information you need is all there. What kind of two cents detective are you that you can't figure it out on your own?"

"Conan-kun!"

"Ah! Sorry, sorry, Hakuba-niisan! I didn't mean it- that's a lie. I did mean it." He groans when he finishes. "Stupid truth gas!"

"That's very rude, Conan-kun."

"If the child figured it out so easily, then he has a point in calling us out," Inspector Nakamori says.

"He's the highlight of my heists, that's for sure." KID looks caught off guard by his own admission.

He's lowering his guard. Or he's getting nervous.

"Answer the question, KID," Hakuba tries once more.

"You could ask the great detective. He seems to have a deduction ready."

"I want to hear it from you."

"I have a general idea of what could be going on based on observations of the heists I've attended." If anyone is surprised by Edogawa-kun's eloquence, no one says. "I lack a lot of background information, mainly on everything regarding before Kaito KID's hiatus -which my dad refuses to collaborate with me on because he says I have to figure it out myself. Fair, but rude. It's not like I have access to police records of the time." Everyone is staring at him, but Edogawa-kun seems to not have noticed. Or the drug is taking more effect than expected and he truly can't control himself. "And what I have isn't enough to account for all incognitas, and it would be unbecoming of a detective to offer up an incomplete explanation." He finally takes some time to breathe.

Which probably didn't help, considering their air was probably still extremely contaminated.

"And that's why Conan-kun is my favorite critic."

Inspector Nakamori shakes himself out of his stupor and addresses the room. "What's it matter?! He's a thief! A criminal! He should be behind bars, and that's all we need to know!"

Edogawa-kun frowns and answers the rhetorical question before Hakuba himself can. "Establishing a motive is an important step in investigating any criminal offence. It can help discern how and who. In homicide cases, it can make the difference between a premeditated murder and manslaughter."

Mouri-san's eyes haven't left Edogawa-kun's face since the little detective entered the conversation. Hakuba can't discern what she's thinking, but he can tell she's wearing the same face Edogawa-kun has when he's gathering and putting together the clues to a particularly complex trick.

"This is different, kid," inspector Nakamori says condescendingly (his tone isn't lost on Edogawa-kun, judging by how his face contorts). "This is just thievery."

"To neglect any piece during the investigation of a case, would mean to be willing to come to an incorrect or incomplete conclusion," Edogawa-kun answers. "It would mean not caring about the truth behind it."

At this point, Hakuba is just a witnessing, partially slack jawed, how Edogawa-kun goes toe to toe with the Inspector. Kaito KID looks to be enjoying the display, revelling in the chaos caused by it.

"Share it with us, then," he tells Edogawa-kun. "Let's combine our information."

Edogawa-kun takes a sharp breath and shakes his head, jaw and fists clenched tightly.

They were all so focused on Edogawa-kun that none of them notice Kaito KID making his way towards them.

"That's enough terrorizing my littlest critic." KID picks up Edogawa-kun and returns to his spot. Edogawa-kun glares at him alongside Mouri-san, but his looks to be more of an annoyed expression than anger.

"This is humiliating," he says. "I'll have my revenge."

"You still owe me a favor, detective-kun."

"I let you go that one time with the Junior Detectives."

"Pppff, you let me go all the time." KID waves the hand that's not holding Edogawa-kun to his side dismissively. "That doesn't count."

"YOU LET HIM GO?" Inspector Nakamori yells, reminding the two others of their audience. Edogawa-kun startles.

"He saved the Junior Detectives' lives," Edogawa-kun says.

"I don't need him to let me go. I'm perfectly capable of doing my own escapes, thank you very much. He's a child. It's not like he can do much to stop me."

"You don't seem to think so when I have you cornered with a soccer ball."

"Those things are weapons of mass destruction and you shouldn't be allowed to use them!" KID hisses.

Hakuba decides to end their little debate. "We've gotten off topic. My question has yet to be answered."

"It wouldn't be very fun if I just gave you the answer, wouldn't it?" KID says, with his smile still in place. "After all, Conan-kun has spent all this time working to figure it out. It wouldn't be very polite to let his efforts go to waste."

"So you admit it," Hakuba says. "Your motives are different from the previous Kaito KID."

"Or maybe," KID says. "Maybe you've been wrong all along."

Inspector Nakamori takes a step forward. "Saguru-kun was right, then? You're a different Kaito KID than the one from 8 years ago?"

It's the first time Hakuba has ever seen KID's smile falter, and for as fast as he fixed it back on his face, he doesn't think he would've noticed if he hadn't been paying close attention to it in the first place.

Inspector Nakamori curses under his breathe, rubbing at his eyes with his fingers.

"I don't want KID dead." Edogawa-kun's voice is marely a whisper. The phrase surprises everyone, Edogawa-kun included, who pales when all the attention turns to him.

"All efforts to apprehand Phantom thief 1412 have been non-lethal." Inspector Nakamori attempts to reassure Edogawa-kun. Hakuba frowns in thought. "You knows this, kid."

Hakuba checks his watch. He doesn't have much time to get the truth out of KID with this,and he doubts this method would work again.

"The police is using non-lethal action." Mouri-san's voice is barely audible. She's looking at KID and Edogawa-kun with an unreadable expression on her face. "But... Sonoko said there have been rumors of people hearing gunshots during some of Kaito KID's heists," she says, careful. Her eyes don't leave his face.

Hakuba turns sharply towards he thief. On his face, the same cocksure smile. The same can't be said for Edogawa-kun, who looks seconda away from passing out, his fingers clenching KID's vest tightly. "Someone else wants to get to you," he says. "But... why. I'm still missing something."

"There's plenty of people unhappy with me for stealing their precious gems, you know?" KID boasts, making a rose appear in his hand, making a show of examining it. "It's not so surreal to think people would want to take revenge." The rose turns into the Alexandrite that was that day's target. He holds it up to the sliver of moonlight coming from one of the room's windows.

Inspector Nakamori's eye twitches at the sight, but he holds himself and says, "There isn't any mention of gunshots in any of the official reports of any of Kaito KID's heists."

KID flicks the gemstone up in the air, letting it fall back into Edogawa-kun's hands.

When he sees Edogawa-kun with the gem in his hands, face unsurprised by the gesture, Hakuba feels like a lightbulb lit up. "You give everything back," he mutters. "You give everything back," he says, louder this time. "That's what I've been missing. The privious Kaito KID kept all that he stole, but you give everything back."

"I think that's common knowledge at this point, detective-san."

Hakuba shakes his head. He checks his watch. "Why go all the trouble of stealing the gems if you have no intention of keeping them?"

"The thrill?" Mouri-san and Inspector Nakamori say at the same time.

"That's what they said of the first KID, too. His criminal profile looked at the flashy white suit, the magic tricks, and the general showmenship and called it narcisistic behaviour. Attention seeking," he says. "And that can still apply to you."

"Hey-" the protest goes ignored.

"But that doesn't explain why you decided to give the gems back. Afterall, it's considerably more effort to return them without being seen that it would be to jsut keep them." He takes a step towards the thief. "You're looking for something." Another step. "And the people shooting at you are doing the same. And you don't want them to have it."

"That's an interesting theory, detective-san." KID tries to keep his voice stable, but the prolonged exposure to the serum, combined with the nervousness caused by Hakuba getting closer to the truth, is going its job, and KID's voice wavers.

#me me post #kaito kid #magic kaito #detco #detective conan #conan edogawa #hakuba saguru #kuroba kaito #truth serum #detco fanfiction

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caitylove · 2 months

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20 questions for fic writers

I was tagged by @holy-ships-x-red-lips! Thank you so much for the tags. You have given me a lovely way to procrastinate right now. :)

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? Only 16, but there are also fics out there on LJ that I was too lazy (or were just too bad) to find on the group events I posted on and port over. There are also some other ff.net fics on another account that I forgot about, but were from when I was in high school so totally not bringing those over either.

2. What's your total Ao3 word count? 78,839. I expect that to drastically change once I start publishing my one long wip...

3. What fandoms do you write for? Currently I mostly write Battlestar Galactica (spaceparents ftw) and some The Closer/Major Crimes (I'm a Brenda/Sharon heathen. ) But in the past I wrote for Rizzoli and Isles and Grey's Anatomy. There's also some X-files fic out there and a CSI one somewhere.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Caffeine (Rizzoli & Isles): What happens when Maura consumes an excessive amount of caffeine?

So major note this fic is literally like 12 years old. And super short. And honestly not good lol.

Break All The Rules For You (The Closer/Major Crimes): Sharon Raydor has a list of rules she lives her life by. But Brenda Leigh Johnson very might be the catalyst for her to break each and every one.

This is actually my current active posting WIP. I'm amused it got so many kudos so fast. Guess I'm not the only heathen out there. :)

Frak Me Red (Battlestar Galactica): Wanting Laura to feel good about herself, Bill finds her the perfect gift and they spend an exciting weekend away on shore leave aboard Cloud 9.

Part of my Cosmetics Series. This was a blast and like 70% pure smut.

Pain Management (Battlestar Galactica): Dealing with pain during her cancer treatments, Laura is suggested an unorthodox treatment plan.

This was actually my first fic back after a ten year writing hiatus... :) Never let anyone tell you that you can't return after a long time away.

Spray and Stay (Battlestar Galactica): Laura has a secret addiction that is slowly running out and she can't help but show off her addiction to Bill.

The first part of my Cosmetics Series. Also 50% smut. :)

5. Do you respond to comments? Absolutely. So, I work from home and like responding to them instead of working sometimes.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? So I don't have a ton of angst honestly. So I guess the ending of Auburn Sunsets, Starlit Nights (Battlestar Galactica) is the angstiest? (Or meanest?)

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? So like 80% of my stuff is smut... so they all have HAPPY ENDINGS. *snicker*. But I guess I'll go with Frak Me Red ?

8. Do you get hate on fics? Not really. Probably did on some of my old FF.net stuff but don't care enough to go back and look.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yes. Like thats half of what I write. :)

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written? Not in a long time. But once upon a time I wrote a Grey's Anatomy Zombie fic that had a Doctor House appearance. Its somewhere on LJ. It was BAD, but I am so tempted to find it now for my own amusement.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I am aware of

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Nope. Feel free to reach out if you want to tho.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? No, but definitely open to it.

14. What's your all time favorite ship? So probably Bill/Laura(Spaceparents) from BSG. But Also have a soft spot for Sharon/Brenda (The Closer), MSR (The X-Files), Swan Queen, Janeway/Chakotay, Femshep/Garrus, to name a few.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Love Games. My 12 year old the Closer fic I never finished. May rewrite it one day but I will never just finish it as it exists today.

16. What are your writing strengths? I like to think I do a lot of emotional introspection well. And Smut. I can do smut.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Honestly, I struggle with dialogue.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? As long as its translated or explained, I'm fine with it. Probs would never do it, cause my language skills suck, but wouldn't mind reading.

19. First fandom you wrote for? CSI! I wrote a Grissom/Sara fic back in the day. I was in like High School.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Thats like asking me my favorite children! My favorite is one I am still writing and haven't published yet, The Symposium of the Stars. One day it'll make an appearance.

But for published? I really loved Auburn Sunsets, Starlit Nights. I have a soft spot for it.

Tagging: @lavenderknivess, @mimine666, @madelineusherspearls. @ofhouseusher, @cryscal, @fracktastic, and anyone else who feels like it :)

#20 questions for fic writers #tag game #fic writers #20 questions

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ggukkiedae · 2 months

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BTS MIYA Kicks Off Her Solo Comeback With Exciting News

7:30PM || March 21, 2024

MIYA talks about her future plans during her comeback showcase!

MIYA dropped the album's pre-release single 'SHHH!' on February 14 as a sample for 'REPPIN'". Since then, ARMYs have excitedly waited for the album's release.

'REPPIN'" is an album that MIYA describes to be one that boosts the feeling of self-confidence while taking inspiration from people she sees as 'girl bosses'. Her examples include Beyonce, Marvel's Natasha Romanoff, Ocean's 8 Debby Ocean, Hotel Del Luna's Jang Man Wol, and Little Mix among many others.

The full-length album came out 6PM today, but Bangtan's Princess held a showcase for the press and a number of ARMYs at 1PM where she performed her title track 'DRAMA' and two b-sides as well ('bloodline' and 'whistle') as talked about her tracks, as we'll write at the end of the article.

Alongside her album release, MIYA released news of a tour this year, starting off in June. She noted that the tour "was actually supposed to be announced tomorrow, but I'm already here. I'll leave the details for the poster, but I'll be going on my first solo tour later this year, and I'm definitely going to focus on performing more recent songs! See you all in June!"

ARMYs flooded to the internet with the news, both excited over the new music as well as the possibility of seeing MIYA perform old songs again as well as other songs she had never performed before.

Are you excited for MIYA's tour? Read below to get a glimpse of what to expect from it from MIYA herself:

MY HOUSE (only until 2:03): "I wanted to open the album with something empowering that boosts that feeling of self-confidence and independence, you know? Also something that feels like pride for representing you and what's yours."

DRAMA: "This is the album's title track and one out of the four songs in Korean on the album. I'd like to say, like its title, it gives off a dramatic vibe in a way that practically screams 'main character energy'."

bloodline: "Writing 'bloodline', i tried to tap into the mindset of a girl breaking free from a toxic relationship. Of course, it isn't something I personally experienced in terms of romance because we all know how sweet and amazing my boyfriend is, but I pulled this a bit from when I got emancipated from my biological birthgivers. Only a little bit. Just the resentment."

egotistic: "I'd say that 'egotistic' falls along similar lines to 'bloodline' in terms of freeing and self/confidence. It has a more Latin pop vibe that I definitely have been dabbling in alongside other genres over my hiatus."

bet u wanna: "If there were one song on this album that would make you more confident when talking to a guy you like, I would think 'bet u wanna' is that song. Enough said, I think that pretty much speaks for itself."

got her own (with TXT Seri): "Seri was with me almost the whole time I worked on 'got her own'! She was really excited to work on something that celebrates female independene and just overall self-sufficiency, and I'd like to think we made a good anthem just for that."

grl gvng: "This is like a song I made with a bunch of my closest friends in the industry. I think namely NCT's Hannah unnie, TXT's Seri, Enhypen's Ari, Aespa's Ningning, Red Velvet's Yeri unnie, and Le Sserafim's Yunjin. These girls are some of the strongest I know."

shhh!: "You guys already know 'shhh!'. You wouldn't expect the album from the pre-release single, would you? Yes, I absolutely enjoyed the more mature concepts I did recently, so I carried it over with this in a more playful manner that shows certainty in one's own desires."

princess diana (with NCT Hannah): "Princess Diana was an icon in her time, and obviously Hannah unnie and I both grew up in England for a time hearing stories of her. This song was kind of us channeling her iconicness in a... not as elegant manner."

b.i.t.c.h.: "I know it's still a shock for many to see me include curses in my music, but I don't care. That's this song, you know? Taking the reigns of my own life because people will always talk, so I don't need to waste time trying to appease everyone at the cost of losing myself. It was a lesson hard learned."

whistle: "This is the last of the Korean songs on this album. Like the others, it's very self-confidence based with the more alluring calmer vibes. It's a song I particularly enjoy performing just because the choreography feels playful and upbeat."

7 rings: "The album closes with '7 rings'. We can't have a woman empowerment album without at least one manifesting song, right? This is the trap song to play when you're getting ready for a girl's night in the bathroom to hype yourself up."

taglist: @sunflower-0180 @seaoffangirling @yourwonderbelle @1-800-enhypennabi @kamiiyou @strwberrydinosaur @uraveragefangirlsposts @caratinylyfe @1-800-minji @one16core @kimhyejin3108 @chansols @akshverse @toriluvsfics @billboard-singer @stopeatread @allthings-fandoms @jammingjaem

drop an ask or a dm if you wanna be added or taken out of the taglist 🥰 requests are also open!

#yoonmi.notice #yoonmi.reppin #miya #yoonmi #kim yoonmi #bts 8th member #bts female addition #bts female member

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ywpd-translations · 11 months

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(Heads up, Yowapeda is going on a bit of a hiatus for the next three weeks! So there will be no new chapter until 8/3!)

Ride 737: New pedals

Pag 1

3: New... “pedals”

4: Yeah

Pag 2

1: Try using them

You'll probably be able to use them!!

Pag 3

2: Huh

3: …..!! Be able to use them!?

4: The.... pedals!?

5: Rokudai-kun

Ye-yessir, teh

The senpai of my senpai, the “super senpai”!!

6: Sorry but could you please bring here Onoda's bike?

Pag 4

1: Yessir!! Right away!!

3: So fast

3: Here!!

Thank you

Thanks

He's really so fast!! As expected of his hardcore manager spirit!!

Pag 5

1: Waaaa.... I officially touched Back-ga-.... Onoda-san's bike....!!

Why are you being all bashful by yourself now, Rokudai....

2: I'll install them right away

3: Ah-uhm

4: Uhm.... actually

I can't accept them

7: Teh!?

Onoda-san refused them..!!

Pag 6

1: You purposely cam here to encourage us, you even offered me a drink – I can't accept the “pedals” too, in addition to that!!

2: You even greeted the first years

That's plenty, thank you so much!

Onoda-san....

4: Is that so?

Yes!!

5: I thought they would suit you, Onoda, but..

Pag 7

1: I- I wanted to see the new pedals, teh...

He said “he'll be able to use them”, I wonder what that meant

2: Maybe the shape is different?

Maybe they're difficult to use? Like there are two on both sides

How would you even step on them, teh

3: I actually got these for myself....

4: With my style of pedaling I tend to lose torque near the limit, so I tried using these

5: But it didn't suit me

So I went back to use the old pedals

7: And while doing so I suddenly thought

8: That you, Onoda... your pedals

Pag 8

1: How long has it been since you last changed them...?

2: Huh

6: The pedals used for bicycles racing are consumable

Pag 9

1: When you fall, they're the first thing that hit the ground, and they're shaved by the impact

2: The structure is simple but surprisingly useful, but still metal isn't perfect

3: They receive the torque and the force from the legs, so you can say the pedals are one of the most important part of a bike

And there's no guarantee they'll never break right during an important race

4: A race...!!

5: Of course you usually bring your bike to Touji-san, and I don't think he'd fail to notice something like this

6: But, has it ever happened before that your feet unfastened during an important moment and you had troubles because of it?

Pag 10

2: …. during the Inter High's third day... at the end...

Yes, it happened....

3: You fought in the Inter High twice

4: You ran in the prefectural qualifiers, every day you use your bike for practice

5: And you're overusing it now during training camp

6: When they'll break it won't be surprising

Onoda, sometimes.... caring... isn't just about the club members....

Pag 11

1: It's about your own bike, too!!

2: The pedals I received from Teshima-san on that rainy day during training camp onmy first year

3: I asked Touji-san to fix them on my new bike, since they were important to me

5: Looking closely, they're all ruined

Pag 12

1: The bike that connects me to everyone

And what connects me to this bike

2: The pedals

3: You went to the Inter High with the pedals I gave you, and you delievered our jersey to the final gate in the end

4: Twice

And I, who gave you those pedals, also am happy and want to thank you

5: But, it's enough

They carried out their role perfectly

Pag 13

1: Let them rest

3: Waaa it's already this late!? That's bad, I got a lecture tomorrow next period

4: I have to go back!

Th- that's bad!

5: …. ah, but you refused these new pedals. I can't give them to you... you said

Ah- wa-

Ahh, what should I do

Ah-

6: Well it can't be helped

Pag 14

1: I'll forget them in the lobby and leave

4: Do your best during this training camp!

Yes- thank you so much for coming here!!

5: Say hi to the others for me, too

6: Share those with everyone and eat them

Pag 15

1: Thank you so much...!!

If you speak so loudly you'll wake everyone...

He....

He's such a nice senpai...

2: I could see ans feel the Sohoku bond, teh!!

Righ!! It's so strong!!

3: I'll change them now

4: The pedals!!

6: I wonder what kind are they, teh, these new pedals!

He said “you'll be able to use them”!?

7: Huh!?

These are the pedals!?

It's the first time I see them in this shape, the... the tip...

Pag 16

1: is round!!

Pag 17

1: The part where I put my feet is a round pedal...!!

2: Amazing, since this pedal is round

3: I can move my heel left and right

4: With incredibly wide movements!!

5: My ankles... and my knees are incredibly free to move!!

And also, these pedals...

Pag 18

1: They feel so close to the sole of my feet

2: I feel like I can turn my pedals so much more like this!!

3: Thank you so much, Teshima-san!!

Pag 19

1: Have you noticed, Hotshot?

Onoda-kun's....

Yeah, his pedals are new

2: “Speed play”

3: It's the only kind of pedal in the world that has the cleat and fastening mechanism on the side

4: Your legs' range of motion left and right becomes wider, so when you're swinging the bike you can still under all circumstances pedal at an high cadence and apply torque

It's perfect for Onoda's pedaling style

5: Was it Touj-san?

Who knows... I sense some kind of intention behind the guess of giving him those pedals

6: And from those donuts lineup choice, maybe

Pag 20

1: It was Teshima-san!!

2: Onoda....!! Pedal, until your limit

3: I told you before...!! I want to see

4: How strong you can become!!

#yowamushi pedal #yowapeda #yowamushi pedal manga #yowapeda manga #yowamushi pedal spoilers #yowamushi pedal translations #ride 737 #no you don't get it i love junta so so much hes so important to me its not even funny anymore ;A;#i loved how imaizumi at the end of the chapter goes 'mhh this suspiciously sounds like something teshima-san would do must have been him'#lmao he knows him so weel #onoda refusing the pedals at first bc junta already did so much for them ;;i just love how much he's growing...#makes me feel like a proud mum- and i bet junta felt the same lmao #and junta going 'ah damn you didnt want these pedals :( well i guess ill just forget them here :D'#he's SO NICE AND WITTY I LOVE HIM #and you know who else loves him? rokudai and kinaka 'oh my god hes such a nice person *O*'#yeah babies i understand you im in love with him too #(nad many other ppl in this manga lmao)#gonna miss this manga for the next three weeks :')#but also thank you watanabe bc you took a break just when im most busy and then i go on vacation #you did it for me ily #gonna use this time to maybe finally catch up with reading spare bike or rereading ywpd from the mtb arc mhhh

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souryogurt64 · 6 months

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that was SUCH a nail in the coffin analysis ive always felt weird abt how mcr and their fans have been operating ever since they came back and u put it into words 😭 like i genuinely think mcr is still effectively broken up and only came back bc they missed a) each other/performing occasionally kinda and b) MONEYYYY because a full tour and multiple makeup palette launches with no album out after like four years is insane! (i get that the pandemic mightve shifted their schedule maybe but lets be real) and i think mcr fans are subconsciously hurt by this and somehow the revisionist history of mcr being freedom fighter genderqueer activists that threw the first brick at warped tour makes them feel better about it?? like "oh this band has values so surely they wouldnt come back from a breakup JUST to take my money"

I actually think that back in 2018-2019 the band originally intended to record and release an album and then were not able to follow through. I think COVID probably affected people’s mental health or drawing out the creative process for several years more than originally planned led to the same tensions that resulted in the band breaking up coming back to the surface.

The earliest MCR reunion leak was actually in Spring of 2018 by SWMRS (lol) and had probably been going on for a long time prior to that. They have had plenty of time to record an album, they either just can’t or don’t want to.

The initial reunion announcement had a lot of really stylized and specific imagery that was new and not nostalgia bait at all. It also felt very extra for just a tour. I don’t religiously pay attention to MCR but they have been doing a lot of stuff to try and keep the album hype going as we head into 2024, like flashing a 5 symbol at shows. I feel like that type of thing was more prevalent early on, but it’s been 4 1/2 years (!!!) so it’s hard to remember.

Also, I joined bandom in Feb-March of 2013 and all throughout the hiatus through reunion leaks in 2018 (so 5 years), MCR were constantly doing things. They each had solo projects (Frank several) and Gerard was doing comics and a TV show. Plus, the band released CW, several demos, and merch.

Over the last 4-5 years, they have basically had one tour and that was it. What have they been doing this entire time? Nothing?

Also, an album that was significantly delayed or didn’t pan out would explain Frank’s garage sale fiasco. The FOB reunion was originally prompted by a blog post from Patrick complaining about how he had blown his savings on Soul Punk and it failed— so if Frank had invested personally in LS Dunes banking on a MCR album, that might explain why he needed to auction off sweatbands as well as the band getting snippy on socials about how they can’t “afford” to film a video.

And like, no, nobody is “owed” a MCR reunion or MCR album or “owed” closure and if they want to fuck off and drink virgin Pina Coladas in Tijuana for the rest of eternity and play WWWY and Riot once every 4 years or something they can

But stringing fans along with “cryptic messages” for 5 years and not making any kind of acknowledgement in the press is weird and like you said, I think explains a lot of the obnoxious holier-than-thou behavior from the fandom. During the time MCR have been “back,” FOB, Avril Lavigne, Blink, and probably other people have gone from varying degrees of hiatus to being well into full touring and promotional cycles for new material which has also made MCR less and less special. Those acts didn’t set outrageously high and dramatic expectations beforehand like MCR did either.

I also really don’t intend to be disrespectful or make assumptions but I think Gerard especially has a long history with drug/alcohol issues in relation to performing and doing touring before the album was even recorded may have led them to delay stuff to (at best) prevent any issues arising.

And like maybe their bodyguard is telling the truth and there will still be an album. But planning a reunion starting in 2017 at the absolute latest, recording and releasing a single in 2019+playing reunion shows, and not releasing the album until 2024 at the earliest is not really a normal schedule and at best is indicative that they ran into issues along the way.

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fillinforlater · 1 year

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Important Announcement and Updates

Hello everyone, Smite here!

Dear readers of my blog, loyal followers, writer friends and everyone in between, I got some news for y'all. Things will change and partially already have and I feel like I should give a heads up about it in a single post so you're not confused as to what has happened.

But first of a word from our sponsor a big thank you for the insane Notes-Totals on my last couple of fics. There is a lot of 900+ and already a fuckton of love for "Just Testing", and leaving aside all the nonsense I wrote in this fic, I'm still very grateful for the support. Thank you!

Now to the upcoming changes/wtf is actually happening:

1. I will take an (warning, evil words ahead) indefinite hiatus from writing fics in the manner I did in the past/up until now.

What does this mean?

"Are you retiring? Are you going to delete your stories? Are you not going to be online/active in Discord anymore?"

NO, NO and NO.

I have no plans to (ever) retire and if I would, a 31some would look pitiful it would be with a feeling of certainty and geniune satisfaction (at least I hope so).

I just need a break from this neck-breaking pace of forcing every ounce of horniness and creativity from my head onto the Docs to the point where it's all just a mush of nudity, sex and filth and words and chaos... I'm losing grip on wtf I write at times.

This hiatus is to reset myself, to test other things without feeling forced to post them or at least something just to be on a streak, just to push that number higher and higher. I will def continue creative writing, just don't expect me to post it cuz it won't be all kpop.

BASICALLY: Stories will be released, but they will be rarer and most likely longer and hopefully still to your liking, from a story and smut perspective (unless it's full-on fluff/angst).

2. Uni will come like three big waves and during the strongest fucking tsunami, I have to do a boatload of other things on top. I'll be busy, I need to be focused, failure is not an option. Freeing myself from the (internalized) pressure of "having to post a fic this week" will help me to push through this mess.

I'll miss you when exams start and I'll come back to you, don't worry.

3. MoA will continue until Part 100, then there will be a two year special (because dayum, that's how long I am doing this already) and before/after the special, MoA will enter a new phase:

Instead of doing an appreciation post every Monday, I will do MoA's whenever I've read one to five stories that I want to appreciate. They will pop up every now and then, in different formats, to show you what I read and enjoy and who you should follow for more good stuff.

My intention with MoA was always to appreciate something, never to exclude someone or tell them that their writing id bad because they have been featured less than others. I want to continue this with more heart than before, so I'm going to break out from the regular pattern after Part 100.

4. Regarding the update I send a while back with all the series' and stuff: I still have intentions to keep my promise and write them, just with less urgency and pressure. The final request from back in January 2022 (lol) will also be written.

I will try my best, I thank you for your patience.

5. The final part of L4 and another fic are big guarantees to be released soon, so get ready, cuz I won't hold back. Remember: I'M STILL HERE! I GOT A LOT OF STUFF...

See y'all around!

... and I'll add more!

Let's start this new era on my blog. I hope you'll give me the same love and support you've given me until now.

(Oh, and feel free to flood my askbox with pics, questions, gams and ideas. No guarantee of reacting to them, but they might stirr me up xD)

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chirpsythismorning · 2 years

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Even though Byler is endgame, there's still gonna be a lot of ups and downs in this fandom for the next two years.

So please, let's not dwell over things said at Cons, only to overreact and decide that we've lost. Otherwise, you're better off just going on a hiatus for the next two years, since this back and forth is not going to stop anytime soon. This is because doubt is extremely necessary for both sides to stay engaged!

They're either queer-baiting or straight-bating. Regardless, both of those scenarios involve basically feeding both sides, until one side has too much confidence and so they have to give the other side some hope to keep everyone going, until the very end. If things around here seem too good to be true, strap in, because doubts are just around the corner to even the score.

The most obvious reason they have to do this is because we're dealing with a mlm ship, with 2 main characters who started out young on the show. Like, it's so shitty, obviously, but this is the most watched show in the world, running on 80's nostalgia, which means most definitely a majority of their overall audience is homophobic (intentional or not), which is why the only way they could go the Byler route in the first place was is if it wasn't official until the last season. Luckily, slow-burn is an awesome trope, so it's not like they're even wrong for going about it this way. I think it's actually going to be pretty epic.

But bylers seriously need to be more realistic with their expectations. We also need to realize that, even though promotion for season 5 will probably involve heavy Byler placement/coding in regards to Mike and Will's characters, similar to season 4, I think there will still be some doubts up until we're actually watching s5 on our screens.

Better to just accept it now, Byler will NOT be getting together in the first episode of season 5, with established relationship fluff for the rest of the season. It's not happening. I know that's what everyone wants, but that's what fan-fiction is for!! Television just doesn't work that way though. The 'will they-won't they' is the whole appeal of most endgame ships, and that means drawing it out for as long as they can.

Absolute best case scenario, I could see us getting Mike and El breaking up once and for all after confronting each other about his monologue, along with Mike fully realizing the extent of Will's feelings, all by the end of 5x02. I could especially see this happening in combination with Mike discovering everything in regards to Will that he has overlooked this last year, because he was too busy trying to suppress his own feelings for Will, ie.:

The painting actually being from Will. I know a lot of bylers are convinced Mike knows for sure that El didn't commission the painting. But I think ya'll are grossly underestimating this whole concept of Will lying to Mike here. It wouldn't make sense to put all this emphasis on Will lying to Mike, for the first time, if Mike didn't fall for it. The reality is, he fell for it because Will never lies to him. Whenever he doubts Will, for example, when Will tried to tell him El was lying to him at Rink-o-mania, Mike said, "bullshit!", only to be proven wrong literal milliseconds later. He's learned his lesson this season not to doubt Will's honesty. So, it makes sense for him to sort of dismiss what El said about the painting in the letter, because his and El's relationship is built on lies, whereas his and Will's isn't. TBH I think Mike was just mesmerized hearing the exact words he wanted to hear from Will and all from Will himself, so there's these moments during Will's monologue where Mike's reaction is just so genuinely shocked and happy, because these words?? are coming from Will??? But I think his feelings in the moment, overshadow his ability to pick up on it in a way that allows him to fully realize Will loves him.

Will loves him. This will instantly explain Will's behavior to Mike as of recent, which was coming from insecurity of rejection, and even more importantly, Will losing him all-together (just like Mike was scared of).

That Will put his feelings aside at every turn to encourage Mike to work through his relationship with El, even though it meant Will putting himself last.

That Mike said, the day Will went missing was the day his life started, in front of Will. (Because if you honestly think Mike knows Will is in love with him and Mike returns those feelings, but still said THAT right in front of him... why do yall still ship them exactly, bc that's fucked up... Like that alone proves to me Mike is still pretty clueless when it comes to the extent of Will’s true feelings. I firmly believe when Mike realizes, his whole world is gonna shift and we’re gonna see it happen. And we haven’t yet… so…)

That the entire confession Mike gave to El was based on Will's feelings, and that the comfort it brought him, with Will's constant encouragement, is what allowed Mike to follow through in the end.

This feels so inevitable, in combination with everything else piling up, but it's likely we'll get an awkward moment where Will finds out about the party playing dnd a lot since he left. I could see it come up when they talk about Eddie's death and Mike finally finding out and mourning. I doubt Will is gonna be mad, he'll probably be bittersweet, like, "I'm used to it by now, it's no big deal, I promise guys," sort of vibes, because he has said he thinks he deserves to be mistreated (Mike: No no no no no! You didn't deserve anything!). So it makes sense that Will would just take this as another blow like it's nothing. Which is why I think this is going to affect Mike a lot, because he's discovering all of these things that reinforce in Will's mind that he's a mistake and no one cares for him. Also because I think the final straw that'll crack Mike completely, is that....

He and everyone forgot Will's birthday!!! And Mike will circle back to that day, re-living it and everything he said/did. And it's gonna hurt. Because he’ll know now that whole time, Will was in love with him!!??? Yes. I am a 'Duffers are lying their asses off about forgetting Will's birthday' truther because, them going out of their way to joke about not remembering the last time they rewatched s2, when there were countless parallels to s2 in s4, is all the proof I need. And I also think all this angst built up against Will is going to make his (and everyone's) happy ending that much more satisfying.

There's just so much potential for angst when it comes to Mike realizing Will's feelings, along with all these other details. And I could honestly see all of this coming to a head in early s5, because they have said the first two episodes of s5 take place directly after s4, so it makes sense that we’ll get the payoff of Mike finding out during that time, since that storyline wasn’t really resolved in s4. But when it comes to actual canon Byler, that will take some time...

At best, I could see an interaction that heavily implies endgame Byler in 5x05 at the earliest (I know that's a popular theory because it follows a pattern of big moments between them in past seasons, and so I could genuinely see them being able to build it up from there, going into the end). This would also allow at least 2-3 episodes of the audience getting to see Mike be fully aware of Will's feelings, without Will knowing that Mike knows and returns those feelings. I think it's necessary for us to get that pining from Mike's POV, with Will being oblivious and so it makes sense for them to put endgame off, at least for that.

This would also allow promotion for season 5 to keep the revelation of Byler endgame in the dark for the most part, until season 5 premieres.

Tbh, the whole appeal of Byler is that their story has been developing romantically this whole time, but that most of the audience missed it bc of heteronormativity. And that's what's going to make the big climax of that storyline be more worthwhile in the end.

When it finally happens, and it's officially confirmed, it will be the end. And people will inevitably go back and rewatch the show from the very beginning, all the way up until the end and go "Oh.?!" That's what’ll make the build-up worth it for everyone that’s willing to see it for what it is.

Of course you can torture yourself for the next two years. And I know many of you will (myself included). But I just had to rant about these doubts realistically at least once, even if only 20 or 100 or a thousand of you see it, I hope it'll give at least a few of you some more confidence about what's to come, even despite some understandable disappointment.

But to be clear, I do still believe in Byler endgame. It's not going to be all sunshine and rainbows the whole way, though. But after all, isn't that what the end is for?

Rhymes that keep their secrets Will unfold behind the clouds And there upon a rainbow Is the answer to a never-ending story

#byler #stranger things #stranger things 5

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curedeity · 11 months

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HAPPY FANFIC FRIDAY YALL! Since artfight will be starting soon, I'll be taking a break from fanfic friday. I decided what better way to celebrate this new hiatus than to draw one of my own fics!

This scene comes from "Gasher's Dilemma" one of my earliest and most popular beyblade fics. I really think it is the first fic people really knew me by, and the one that stuck with people the most in my early days in the fandom. And I'll be honest, it is a pretty good encapsulation of my image.

Despite what this art might look like, this is not actually ship art. This isn't supposed to be that romantic of a moment at all (though I get that interpretation), and is one of the ones that stuck with me most upon rereading this fic. I'll be summarizing more later, but this scene is supposed to be a show of solidarity from Madoka to Hikaru as they both deal with their identity as women.

"Gasher's Dilemma" is a tough fic for me to look back on. If you haven't read it yet, I'd like to encourage you to, as it stuck out from my others for a reason. It is an in-universe exploration of sexism, and I think still interesting in that regard. At the same time, the fic is (I am knowingly exaggerating here) a flaming piece of shit in dire need of a rewrite or three.

I'll now be explaining the fic, explaining the scene I depicted, and then giving my thoughts and rambles about the fic below the cut. Thank you for humoring my amazing self-indulgence.

"Gasher's Dilemma" is a fic from Madoka's perspective that serves as an in-universe examination of the sexism in beyblade. It is structured through a scene of Madoka with each girl in the series, up to Sophie. The girls will pass off advice to one another, or rant about their own treatment and the emotions that's causing them. This structure is pretty important, because it centers the focus on all the girls, allowing for a narrative of community and solidarity to shine through. It deals with a lot of themes, but specifically the feeling that you are not doing enough to break stereotypes, that you are the problem, that you are only this way because an outside oppression has shaped you to be so.

The scene depicted here is from after Madoka and Lera talk. Lera is the first girl Madoka encounters in the fic to be more confident about her place as a woman. Lera calls out the sexism she experiences, showing she knows it is someone else's fault, not her own. She encourages Madoka to ignore it, and continue her passions confidently. This leads Madoka to remember Hikaru, who is so scared she is letting people down by stepping away from blading, and encourage her to stop worrying about others thoughts and expectations. She will never be good enough to change the mind of a sexist, so she should only focus on being happy as herself.

It's an important show of solidarity, that even as Madoka is finding herself more and more unsure, she reaches out to the women she knows to share their words, and try to improve together. It is about telling people what you need to hear, and also genuinely wanting the best for them.

Its an emotion that really sticks with me when leaving this fic, as it reminds me of the good experiences that inspired this fic.

"Gasher's Dilemma" is one of the more specifically inspired fics from my own life that I've ever written. At the time of writing this, I was thinking back on my high school gym class. It was only for a semester, but it really destroyed my self-esteem as a woman in a way nothing had before (and I did martial arts throughout all my years in school, played basketball in elementary, and never had a problem with gym).

At first, the gym class was normal, this was during the sports that could be considered more feminine. But then we switched to more physical games like soccer, and it all changed. We would start class by getting into teams, and there would be 2 girl teams, and 3 boy teams. Then, the gym teacher would pair up the three boy teams and the 2 girl teams, and set the girl teams against each other for the entire class period, not rotating us out.

What was the worst thing is he made us agree to it each time. He asked us and we always agreed that we were fine just going against each other. I always agreed.

It made me feel like shit, to tacitly admit i "wasnt good enough" to go against the boys because of my gender. Especially when i didn't believe that at all. I had never particularly struggled going against boys, not anymore than against girls. But as class went on, I found myself believing it a bit more, and hating myself for that.

It created a pretty bad environment too, a lot of girls were ticked off at the situation, and occasionally would mutter about blaming others. The boys, many of whom I'd known for years and many who I'd never had problems with, also started trusting us less. Whenever gym was brought up, the girls would always have a gendered issue to complain about, normally even a bit tiredly and anxiously, like we didn't even fully comprehend the situation yet.

But even then, we all still stuck together. I had many friends who sympathized with what was going on, and would commiserate, even if we were still working out. We would encourage each other, or just be there through the situation. It's that solidarity that is key in the structure of this fic, and this drawing.

I think it was these clearly personal feelings I was working through in this fic that resonated with people. It's why, even now, I'd still encourage people to read it. I know it connected with people, and I'm glad.

The fic is a mess though.

I reread it every so often, and am struck by how lazy my style is in this fic. The scenes are far too short, and the character work is still a bit wonky because i havent written these characters much. The narration is bland and there is so much work to be done on it. I critique this so much because I know I am a writer who could do better, who could execute this idea better.

Not to mention, there are elements thematically in the fic I'd change. While I've come to the realization having a narrow focus would still help, my gender commentary is pretty lacking. It doesn't really bring trans realities into the picture, and understanding just how constructed gender is makes for a better social commentary. It doesn't comment on the realities of race at all. It's, overall, a critique that could still use some work.

I'd also want to add Selen and Motti in. They weren't there because I didn't know how to add them initially. Both of them stick out even among the small cast of girls. The Garcias have so much to critique in their portrayal, and Motti is almost a joke character. I would've struggled to integrate both originally, but now I have thorough ideas of how they'd lend themselves to Madoka's journey and the themes of this fic.

Basically, it's a fic I really want to rewrite someday, because the idea still speaks to me after all this time. This is a fic and a subject that means a lot to me, and maybe I should return and reexplore these memories. But if any fic deserved to be the first fic of my own I drew for fanfic friday, it would be this motherfucker.

#beyblade #beyblade metal fight #mfb #gashers dilemma #fanfic friday #madoka amano #hikaru hasama #art #my art #fan art

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why-so-serious-lucifer · 6 months

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K-pop Discography Deep Dives: Dreamcatcher (Part TWO)

A Disclaimer: I was planning, when I first started Tumblr, to be a lurker, but then I began an office job and needed something to listen to to keep myself occupied. And then, I started going through entire K-pop groups’ repertoires, album by album, and jotting down my thoughts. And then, I stumbled into K-pop tumblr and decided, you know what, there’s at least four people on this hell site who would read in depth rants about these discographies and at least five who wouldn’t read it and then get mad because it’s kind of our job as K-pop fans. My lukewarm takes should be taken with an entire silo of salt and the knowledge that this is completely for fun and occupying my very bored, very neurodivergent brain. All this to say, for the love of god, I’m a sleep-deprived student and I don’t have time for internet hate, so don’t kill me. With that being said, enjoy!

Here are my credentials: I’m a huge fan of Dreamcatcher, and have been an Insomnia since mid-2021 or so, just after the release of BEcause. They were actually the first concert I’ve ever been to, and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience for that. They totally gave their all for those two hours and I ended up loving them even more afterward. I’m even considering going again if they have another tour.

So, we left off after the end of their nightmare arc and a few special singles. Scream begins their next work, the dystopia trilogy, focused on hate speech and cyberbullying. This was the first DC song I heard, and god what a starting point. Those flashes of angry guitar and drums that pound like a heartbeat lead into a soft pre-chorus that lulls you into a false sense of security before that chorus just destroys you. The song is just so done, fitting for a person driven evil by cruelty because they simply couldn’t take it anymore, and its expansive string section adds layers of drama, especially with the distorted (kind of demonic) voice that echoes throughout the post-choruses. Overall, one of their best, though I wish that Handong (who, as mentioned before, was on hiatus during 2020) was there too,

The Tree Of Language is their first full album, and it’s so tough to pick a hidden gem. I know a lot of people love Red Sun but it’s a bit too vibey and meandering for me; it’s never been my favorite. Sahara is a total head-banger and I hope that they take its harsher rock for a title track again sometime. Black or White has some great Michael Jackson energy with its sharp moves and equally sharp chorus, letting the rock take a backseat. Jazz Bar is softer than I expected, with the jazz being more of an undertone and a nice backdrop with the dancy piano for the “I think I love you, oh I love you.”

Paradise is the last song on the album and is a solo for Siyeon, which makes sense given that she’s their main vocalist. It’s a bit calmer of a ballad than usual for DC, who often favor power ballads, but her vocals bring some great depth and emotion to what could be an average b-side. Also, shout-outs to the distorted strings in In The Frozen and the great energy in Tension.

BOCA is part two of the trilogy, and focuses more on the cyberbullying part than the hate speech as Scream does. It’s probably their most popular song overall, breaking into a k-pop market that, in 2020, was much more willing to accept rock than it had been at their debut. BOCA starts muted with a common-for-the-time tropical house beat, which should feel out of place but doesn’t. It then begins to build, as all their best work does, to a power ballad above an insistent electric guitar. It wasn’t one of my favorites at the beginning, but there’s no denying that it’s grown on me in the years since. Coming right on the heels of two tragic suicides in the k-pop industry (Sulli and Hara), which were partially due to immense amounts of online bullying, the lines of “Why do you fill your precious time with hate?” and especially the soul-piercing belt after “Too many angels dying now, I’m gonna change your mind” never fail to get me emotional.

From Lose Myself, despite the sweetness of fan-song Can’t Get You Out Of My Mind, I can’t think of a better hidden gem than Break The Wall. In K-pop, it’s common to decry “ugh this should’ve been a single”, but this should’ve been screamed from every rooftop in the galaxy. From start to finish, it’s a full-on alt-rock anthem that riles up its audience to stand together, rise up, and break the walls of prejudice with all of their strength. Seeing this in concert and screaming the words with thousands of teenage girls and the assorted parents, partners, and siblings that they dragged along (who ended up loving it) was what I might call a transcendent experience. For a couple moments, one would be forgiven for thinking that we could’ve really saved the world.

Odd Eye is the final part of the trilogy, and the return of Handong! It’s a great song, especially in its building pre-chorus, its cathartic bridge, and its distorted background mixed with traditional rock elements, but it’s never been one of my favorites. Unlike with You & I, where I had a very specific reason for feeling meh? about it, I don’t really know why I’ve never connected with this one. Even so, I do love how it ends the series, with the phrase: “in the end, the Dreamcatchers couldn’t find the Utopia they were looking for”, a surprisingly dark finish. When asked about this, member JiU said that they were trying to communicate that a perfect world doesn’t exist, but that the imperfect one we have is still worth fighting for. So, I have to give the song massive props for that.

From Road To Utopia, my hidden gem was Wind Blows. It maintains Dreamcatcher’s essential energy, but both slows it down for a hand-clapping pre-chorus and then ratchets it forward with an EDM-driven chorus that decides to end with a chant-filled post-chorus (that I don’t hate? I know, shocking). I also liked Poison Love, although a lot of that is due to the absolute hilarity of its music video, which is basically a 4-minute soap opera. New Days returns to their early years’ anime soundtrack energy, which is always appreciated.

BEcause is a special single in between the Dystopia and Apocalypse trilogies. It’s technically a love song, but I really like how it plays into many k-pop cliches—cutesiness, love, doll-like aesthetics—but in keeping with DC’s dark concepts, it’s actually about a stalker. The verses are understated, quite upbeat, and poppy, before the pre-chorus figuratively (and literally, in the music video) turns that calm feeling completely upside-down. The vocalizing and the “Be…cause I like you” in the chorus is chilling, and the song goes from 0 to 100 so quickly but so well, as you immediately get the sense that something is very, very wrong.

This EP is, hilariously enough, called Summer Holiday, as though the title track wasn’t one of their most horrifying. It does have some very upbeat tracks that are a rarity in DC’s discography, most notably Whistle, which turns its namesake into a recurring underscore and makes a quite catchy hook. Overall, though, this isn’t one of my favorite albums of theirs.

MAISON is both the beginning of the Apocalypse trilogy and my first Dreamcatcher comeback as an Insomnia (since BEcause came out when I was just becoming a fan and I wasn’t really “aware” of it at the time). Full disclosure, this was the song that made me buy tickets to their concert, and in hindsight, I’m not surprised. Unlike many of DC’s songs, it comes out of the gate swinging. There’s no slow first verse, no ballad to be found, and no way of reading its message as anything other than it is: a vicious criticism of the leaders who stand there doing nothing while climate change ravages the earth (“Oh no, you can’t fool me anymore. It’s weirdly warm, right? The planet, and your conscience drying up”), (“Pretending not to know, you can’t make it disappear”). It ends with only a simple plea: “Please, someone fight for us.” This song remains, to this day, my mom’s favorite Dreamcatcher song. (Hi, mom).

Apocalypse: Save Us is another full album, and has a lot of great songs (some we’ll get more into in a minute). I particularly liked the fun, boppy synths of Starlight, the choppy jazz-meets-alt-rock energy of Locked Inside A Door, and the very sweet Always, which is a song written for fans that they performed near the end of the concert.

Apocalypse: Save Us also contains a solo song for each member, which each of them got to write, and I was lucky enough to see them perform a medley at the concert I attended. First is JiU with the bouncy, retro Cherry, which is a love song written for JiU’s pomeranian Cherry. Yes really. It’s utterly delightful. Second is SuA with the EDM No Dot, which totally fits her role as main dancer because she performs the hell out of it. Third is Siyeon’s traditional Entrancing, which is quite soft and lovely, and makes the best of her excellent vocals.

Fourth is Handong’s quiet Winter, which is a fairly standard k-pop ballad but gives Handong a chance to sing a short a-capella section in her native Mandarin, which, as a linguistics major, I really loved. Fifth is Yoohyeon’s smoothly jazzy love song For, which is the rare k-pop song in English that I don’t mind. Sixth is Dami’s pop-punk Beauty Full, which has some great 2000’s energy and always gets me head-banging. And seventh is Gahyeon’s upbeat and youthful Playground, which is about holding onto childhood. These are all good songs and reflect their own styles well, but my favorite would either have to be Beauty Full or Cherry. I’m a huge fan of artists writing their own tracks so I’m so glad they got to do this!

After that slight digression, next up is Vision, the second song in the Apocalypse series. This one builds on what Maison began, but is resolved to take a far more involved position and not simply wait around for someone else to save them. Instead, Dreamcatcher leads the charge, giving Vision a militaristic feel with its insistent drumline, very present electric guitars, salutes, and flags. It’s a call to action if ever there was one, and features a breaking point just as Scream does, but this time it’s for good. “For your bright tomorrow, and this beautiful place,” JiU announces on the microphone, “For ourselves, give it up tonight! March! Raise your flag and fight again!” And Siyeon’s power note at the end? Excellent.

From Vision’s EP, Follow Us, I liked the synth-pop-meets-chill-rock of Fairytale, which works way better than I thought it would. It’s a sweet love song, and honestly would have made a great single for them if their singles weren’t set on storytelling. It’s very Dreamcatcher while tying that rock to another genre, which is part of the reason why DC’s work always sounds both fresh and true to their core. Some Love is more straightforward rock and EDM, and the Outro is peaceful, steering us into the next song quite well.

Bon Voyage wraps up the Apocalypse trilogy, and begins in the exact opposite way to Maison. Its first minute sounds like a classic love song, and in a way it is one, to the Earth, but I was left slightly baffled. And then, of course, that pre-chorus takes off and we’re back to classic Dreamcatcher in its excellent guitar riffs and power ballading to the stars. The bridge strikes a middle ground, keeping up the energy as the song barrels to its conclusion in what may be Siyeon’s most incredible high note yet. It may be a love song, but it’s also a promise to keep fighting for the Earth, until the day we have to say goodbye.

From the From Us EP, I had trouble choosing between Propose & Demian. Propose at first seems to be this album’s obligatory ballad, but the background crackles with an odd sound and suddenly pulls away with the “Don’t run away, you can’t escape my love,” and I got flashed back to BEcause’s stalking concept. Propose takes that and runs with it, delivering what can either be read as a creepily obsessive song or a power ballad in the name of love. Demian, meanwhile, is very disjointed, going from a usual Dreamcatcher b-side to Dami’s scream-talk sections, sharper raps, and a full-throated run into metal with a guitar breakdown that they haven’t really reached since No More. (And, as a lover of Break The Wall, I of course appreciated the shout-out.)

Reason is a special single for DC’s 6th anniversary, and starts out delightfully sappy: “Because of Insomnia, Dreamcatcher exists”. Overlaid on adorable footage of DC’s journey throughout their years in the industry is a song that somehow manages to be both a rock-metal anthem and an incredibly sweet tribute both to each other and their fans. “I will go far away, I spread out my wings to fly, I have to go on…because you are the reason.” No, I’m totally not crying right now. What are you talking about? (Cue me blubbering into a handkerchief).

OOTD came out less than a week ago, and I admit I was a little wary with its teasers. And it turns out I was right to worry. The song starts with a good EDM smash and some great vocalizing right away, and its pre-chorus’ build reminds me of Vision. I’m intrigued by its choppier editing and its commentary on the fashion industry. Overall, though I think the song has some great ideas (the nu-metal mixed with hip-hop), it goes far too into sing-talk for me and I don’t like the chorus. Honestly, the most accurate thing I could say is it doesn’t sound like Dreamcatcher. It’s not a bad song, so perhaps it’ll grow on me, but for now…I’m afraid not. I think this is the first track of theirs (in an almost 7-year-career) that I haven’t liked to some level, and as long as the issues I had with it don’t continue into other releases, I’m willing to overlook it, like I did with Birthday by Red Velvet, as a “you can’t win them all”.

Versus Villain, the EP, is thankfully as strong as always. Rising carries that great alt rock energy and DC’s signature encouragement to keep going (“raise your arms up, with all your strength, shout!”), which is always nice to hear. I loved this one from the first chorus, and immediately wondered, why on earth was this not the title, guys? It would’ve been perfect!

This may be the most fun I’ve had in my reviews so far! Besides having an excellent discography in just sound alone, they’ve covered trauma, cyberbullying, stalking, climate change, depression, hate speech, love, and hope in under 100 tracks, all while waving pride flags on stage, writing special tracks about loving their dogs, and working their way up in the k-pop world from a tiny company. Their work reminds us all that it’s okay to have bad days but that one day, we will have the strength to accept ourselves, wake up from our nightmares, and start changing the world. And really, what’s more empowering than that?

My Top 5 songs are Break The Wall, What, Deja Vu, Bon Voyage, and Maison, with Wake Up and Fairytale as honorable mentions. Dreamcatcher gets a 10 out of 10 from me, which is no surprise. I can’t really think of anything I would change about what they’ve done, and even though I have my tiny gripes here and there, none of them are enough to make me change my mind. Maybe I’ll be eating my words in a few months, so we’ll see how this ages, but for now I don’t think that there’s any group out there whose work I would rate higher. For now, I’ll end by saying that I’m very proud to be an Insomnia.

Next time, we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming with another boy group of the week, this one one that I barely even know, so I’m looking forward to it! Tschüss!

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gren-arlio · 9 months

Text

Folks, one and all, Welcome to Episode 4 of (Waku) Puyo Extras, along with some fairly big announcements again.

(There's no real context for these images. They're basically title cards and the table of contents.)

Hello everyone, and welcome to the fourth installment of Waku Puyo Extras, the filler series before I start Arle's route where I post things about this game, what I can find, and maybe even another game sometimes if I really feel like it. The more lore, the better, eh? After getting verified into the English Puyo Puyo Community Discord, I've been speaking there while doing this sort of stuff.

I'll start off with a quick announcement, a time change, if you will.

Yes. I will translate Arle's route. WHEN though is a bit...in the air. I know I said in a week or so, but... School is starting soon, and obviously, I won't be having as much time as I usually do making this stuff, so I decided ahead of time to prepare.

It's basically certain that I won't be posting every week. Maybe sometimes, but there might be a post every 2 weeks, or longer if needed. School and home life is more important after all. Even in a rare case of me not posting for a while, I'll still be quietly working. In that scenario, I'll again mostly, if only, post on weekends. I don't want this stressing me out, after all.

There's a chance I may be taking a hiatus during that time. Even I need breaks sometimes, and I also want to make time for my friends, family, and my education.

Basically, expect my schedule to be fucked up from now on. Hope you'll understand. I'll try to keep a schedule though.

So with this, what're we covering today? Simple, really.

A new video. About the latter half since I've done the first half on Episode 1 of Extras.

This really won't be factual stuff, but me talking about Lagnus as a whole. (Madou Saturn, Puyo Chronicles, etc) Consider the 2nd parts of these to be...random trivia, games, etc. Spices things up. The manga section will be for next time...didn't have enough time.

With that, let's talk about what'll happen today.

Whole new video.

youtube

Thing is about this video, I did...half of it already. It's the first Extra episode actually, the one where Witch sees Schezo and blasts him and me with the ♡'s. The latter half is with the OTHER 2 protags, which is the part I'm properly translating.

(Also the song for the Battle Castle is actually alluding me to an annoying degree, I'm still trying to find the song.)

Timestamps:

Satan 1 (Rulue): (22:13)

Battle Castle Explanation (Rulue): (22:44)

Succubus Boss 1 (Rulue): (23:12)

Witch Trade (Rulue): 25:25)

Satan 2 (Arle): (26:03)

Battle Castle Explanation 2 (Arle): (26:32)

Succubus Boss 2 (Arle): (27:05)

Witch Trade 2 (30:15)

God, Witch acting normal is gonna be so uncanny to me now after like 6 months of working on Schezo Story. I'm used to her being a menace to society.

With that little remark, hope you enjoy.

Satan 1 (Rulue): (22:13)

Rulue:

What the!?

Minotauros:

Umo!? (God I still do not like this bozo)

Satan:

Well...there's the last tower.

Rulue:

Oh, Satan!? (Here I believe she says the one honorific with someone who's highly respected/they like. San? Kun? Don't fully know.)

Satan:

The magical item is in that tower.

Rulue:

Is that so?

Satan:

W-well, I think so...

Rulue:

...?

Satan:

No, hahaha...it must be in there! (Can also be interpreted as "Must've been the wind!")

Rulue:

If I can get my hands on that magical item, I'll finally be able to have magical powers...

Minotauros:

Master Rulue?

Rulue:

Darling Satan... ♡♡ (And thus, they return...)

I'll certainly come back with the magic item!

Satan:

Oh, you're motivated. Keep it up, and do your best.

Rulue:

Yes, Satan. ♡ (again an honorific here. I think San?)

Minotauros:

...

------

Battle Castle Explanation (Rulue): (22:44)

Succubus:

Welcome. Nice to meet you in such a place.

Rulue:

Oh...who are you? Are you the boss of this place?

Succubus:

I'm a Succubus. I guess I'm the boss of this place here.

I'm not trying to lure in people...I'm an usher.

Rulue:

Well...let me ask you this, what is this place?

Succubus:

Huh? You haven't heard? Eh, I'll explain.

This is a special attraction where many of the bosses you've fought wait.

The guys there are at least level 50, and at their very best, well over level 100.

If you're good, you'll make it halfway through, but if you're not confident, don't go.

Rulue

Heh...do you really think that'll stop me?

Succubus:

If you want to go in, be my guest. Do as you please. ♡ (With Succubus it feels much more normal because...she's a Succubus.)

Rulue:

(Who is this woman...?)

------

Succubus Boss 1 (Rulue): (23:12)

Rulue:

Oh? You're here this time?

Succubus:

Fufufu...♡ Yes, I'm surprised you made it this far.

Rulue:

Heh? Who do you think I am? It was easy.

Succubus:

Heh~ I really don't care... (Man she's different compared to her talks to Schezo.)

Rulue:

You don't care? What is there not to care for!?

Succubus:

Your face, your voice, the way you talk, everything!

Rulue:

Oh, now you've done it!

Now that you've said all that, you ready for this? It's far too late to apologize...

Succubus:

Hm...you seem rather ready.

Rulue:

Oh, you're unforgivable!

[Putting these here, I've translated Succubus loss quote too many times for my own good, and when Rulue gets to the chest at 22:10, it says Rulue got a book.]

-----

Witch Trade 1 (Rulue): (25:25)

Rulue:

Oh my goodness! All of that hassle for a book. (She can also say my god.)

And I got no clue how to use it! (...By reading it, genius. Granted it's Meteor but still.)

Minotauros:

Master Rulue...

Rulue:

Ugh! What do I do with this junk!?

Witch:

Hey!!

Rulue:

What do you want!?

Witch:

It's outrageous that you would try to destroy my grimoire!

Rulue:

"Your Grimoire," you must be joking! It's mine.

Witch:

What're you talking about? Aren't you unable to use magic? (Harsh, but true.)

It's like giving a pearl to a pig, so give it to me! (The Pearl to a Pig thing is something I'm a lil unsure about but yea.)

Rulue:

What the hell!

(Either way she gives it.)

Witch:

...Finally, I got my hands on the "Meteor Grimoire" I've been searching for.

...yes, in return, I'll give you the "Ultimate Queen's Secret Manual".

Rulue:

Huh...

Witch:

Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta go.

Rulue:

I see. Even with that special manual, that girl wouldn't be able to use it.

That's her "Pearl's to Pigs".

Minotauros:

Good for you, Master Rulue.

------

Satan 2 (Arle): (26:03)

Arle:

W-what!?

Carbuncle:

Guu!?

Satan:

Oh...that's the final tower.

Arle:

Eh!?

Satan:

There's a great magical item in that tower.

Arle:

What? I thought you didn't know about any item.

Satan:

What's so funny? I was upset at the time...

Arle:

...This place is weird. You sure you're the owner?

Satan:

I'm for sure the owner of "Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Land."

Arle:

Then why...

Satan:

Well, I've been busy with a lot of things.

A person like me can't check every single attraction.

Arle:

You...I guess you really don't know anything about this, do you?

Satan:

N-no, that's...

Arle:

Guess I have no choice...Let's go, Carbuncle!

Carbuncle;

Guu!

-----

Battle Castle Explanation 2 (Arle): (26:32)

Arle:

Huh? What's a castle doing here... seems like a new attraction.

Let's go for now, shall we?

Carbuncle:

Gugu!

Succbus:

Welcome. Pleasure to meet you.

Arle:

Hello...who are you anyways?

Succubus:

Im a Succubus. (Hm...haha...) [I wasn't able to find the parentheses text out. Sorry.]

I'm not here to lure you in... I'm an usher.

Arle:

Hm...my goodness...

Succubus:

Why don't you go into this place without sounding so harsh?

Arle:

Well? Can I enter?

Succubus:

Yes, you can. ♡

Arle:

So, is this a new attraction?

Succubus:

Huh? You haven't heard? Well, let me make this easy for you.

[She then explains the same thing she told Rulue.]

Arle:

What? I didn't know enemies could get that strong...

-----

Succubus Boss 2 (Arle) (27:05)

Arle:

I met you outside...

Succubus:

Fufufu...well, we're finally here...

Arle:

Err...

If we're talking now, by any chance, are you the boss here?

Succubus:

Well, you're right, I am the boss here.

But don't talk to me like I'm just a boss, talk to me like I'm a queen.

Arle:

Queen?

(Her and Rulue share a lot in common...)

Succubus:

Did you say something?

Arle:

Uhh, it's nothing...

Succubus:

Then I'll make you my special servant.

You should be honored, I usually only take very good looking men. (THAT explains Schezo's Route...)

Arle:

A servant!? I don't want that!

Succubus:

Oh...you're a funny girl. You're missing out on a lot.

Arle:

Are you...is your head okay? I think you need to see a doctor...

Succubus:

Shut up!

I think people with your attitude need to be taught a lesson...prepare yourself!

Arle:

Ugh, what a mess!

[Once again at 30:05 it says "Arle got a book."]

-----

Witch Trade 2 (Arle): (30:15)

Arle:

That was fun, Carby!

Carbuncle;

Guu!

Arle;

...But I don't understand what this grimoire is for.

Witch:

Hey!

Arle:

Ah! Don't just appear like that randomly!

Witch:

Oh, sorry about that. (WITCH? The horrors beyond my comprehension? Apologizing? I'm too used to Schezo's Route...)

But I'd like to ask, may I have that grimoire that you have right now?

Arle:

W-Well...

(They give it.)

Witch:

Finally...I got my hands on the "Meteor Grimoire" I've been looking for.

...Yes, in return, I'll give you the "Jugem's Grimoire." (Idk what Jugem means...Probably just call it the Great Mage Grimoire.)

Arle:

Huh...

Witch:

Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta go.

Arle:

I'll do my best to use "The Jugem Grimoire"!

Carbuncle:

Gugu!

------

And that's translations. I won't deny, I delayed them a good bit, but they're done. Expect Part 1 of Arle's Route within'...maybe a week or two depending on how long the first episode is. Might split it in half like Schezo's.

And with that...We're on Random Puyo Extras. Filler INSIDE of filler where I speak about a Random Puyo thing very unprofessionally.

Today, it'll be on Lagnus/Ragnus Bishasi.

So, my boy Lagnus. Top 3 character in Puyo/Madou IMO, and I'm just kinda here to talk about the man, and how different he is COMPILE vs SEGA Era Puyo, least personality wise. And since I don't want this to JUST walls of text...I'll throw in a few images.

Let's start with SEGA Era, shall we?

Let's begin with Puyo Sun, his first introduction.

(Concept art of Lagnus, along the Puyo Sun cast as a whole.)

In Sun, he's portrayed as a bit of a fool. He's trying to become stronger and all that, which power to him, powerscaling in Puyo seems mad fun, and you see him in Arle's route first killing a Puyo to transform into his teenage self. He then challenges Arle...only for his pants to fall down. This is why we wear belts.

You then see him in Schezo's route next, fresh off his loss against Arle. He notices Schezo is a Dark Mage, and rushes in to attack, only to fall down when Schezo dodges, reverting back to a kid, before throwing a temper tantrum...Not the best showcasing of the man. However, in the novels, it IS said that he only turns into a kid due to Satan being a bit of a jerk.

Minna De Puyo Puyo has a similar beat with SUN Lagnus. Here, he offers to help out Arle out with her journey, but unfortunately, guy is still a kid, so Arle assumes he's joking. Guy can't catch a break.

Oh. But Chronicles got you covered, right?

No. It doesn't.

He appears in Purplune Aqueduct, basically gaslighting himself into thinking he's The Great Hero, when it's Arle...and he's stupid pissy about it. He challenges Arle, loses, and runs into the final dungeon alone. Arle sees him again, is still annoyed with him, and beats him again, before joining your team.

I genuinely don't like how he's portrayed here at all, probably my least favorite version of him ever.

But COMPILE got you covered. For real this time.

(Concept Art of Lagnus and art showing the major characters...and Witch/Draco.)

In Madou Saturn, he's basically the 3rd protagonist of the game, next to Arle and Rulue. You start off the game playing as the man, who's kinda cracked, before he uses all of his power to slay Yoggus, the main antagonist, before he realizes that a portal opened up and that the Yogs (Main villain group) are in other dimensions, before the portal sucks him in. Thankfully, Satan saves the guy and traps him in a crystal to prevent the man from dying.

However, not all was lost. He's able to transfer his soul into Schezo's body, and be able to control it for a small period of time, though he does get removed due to the large amount of darkness in Schezo. It's the reason why Arle and Rulue were so confused when Schezo decided to help them sometimes. He even fights Satan with you in Schezo's body.

When Arle finally meets the guy fairly late into the game, he's turned to a child due to his curse, before telling Schezo that he had to keep controlling him for his own good, annoying Schezo. He starts to tell Arle and Co. about what went down in his world.

(This happens after, but it's always fun to throw in.)

After tons of trials and tribulations, they finally reach Yoggus, and...win the first time around, and Lagnus gets his Reactor Blade back, turning him back into his teenage self, and he fights Yoggus as his full power with Arle and Rulue, and slay Yoggus.

As the place they fought in begins to collapse, Arle and Rulue run off, and Lagnus and Satan...stay behind. Least for a bit with Satan. At that moment, Arle wonders where Lagnus is, and Satan breaks the news: He went back to his own world.

However, what went on was slightly different. Lagnus decides to stay in the collapsing area, saying he'll go back home, as he thinks he was one of the main causes for the problem, and risks being sent to another dimension just for a chance to get home. Satan says otherwise though, as not only did he remove the curse, but indeed was helping Lagnus, pulling things behind the scenes, like deliberately putting important things in obvious spaces.

Satan did this...mostly because we wanted to show the people of his world a reason to defend it. That and he was bored. After that, he gives Lagnus the Azorecrack, a pendant that allows him to transfer between his and Arle's world, saying he was intentionally hiding it. Lagnus, quietly cursing Satan, thanks him, and says he'll be back another day.

With the plot synopsis of SATURN for Lagnus, it shows that not only is he fairly smart and has a strong sense of justice, but he's pragmatic to boot, never going too far with everything, besides the start of the game. He develops a good friendship with Arle and even Rulue, and Schezo kinda hates the guy. He even develops a small acquaintanceship with Satan, thanking him for a lot but also cursing him for not stopping everything. In a game like Saturn, where a lot of characters are hit or miss, Lagnus stands out as probably the best written one out there...until Chronicles kinda messed him up badly.

With this little image, I think I did the man a tad bit of justice.

That'll be all. Thanks for reading.

#Youtube #madou monogatari #schezo puyo puyo #waku waku puyo puyo dungeon #japanese translation #puyo puyo #sega #sega saturn #arle nadja #rulue puyo puyo #Lagnus Bishasi #Lagnus puyo puyo #ragnus puyo puyo #satan puyo puyo #witch puyo puyo #Madou Monogatari Saturn #madou saturn #schezo wegey

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rttnpnkpmpkn · 11 months

Note

Do your friends ever disappointed you?

What make you interested in YB fandom?

What is your current mood?

Can I know which ship you like the most?

It's a long doozy xD

It happens. Can't truly blame them as they have their own things going on behind-the-scenes and I do have my moments where I'm like that to them. Same with family members, but that's a different story! xD

Thinking about it now that I'm in a calmer state, I really do want them to live well. Some aren't really bad people, even if I no longer see us getting along. I don't have the energy to hold grudges, nor do I to think about different scenarios of what could have been if things were different. It'd make me miserable and it impacts my productivity, including the ones that are necessary for my livelihood lol. With my asocial personality, it's already expected that I won't have long-term friends, so I really appreciate those who stuck by when they do.

It's very stupid lol. My last fandom before this one was Genshin Impact, and I was on that hoe for at least a year and counting, especially when coping during quarantine was not fun. I don't even get a long hiatus from work as I was "an essential worker". Compared to the YB fandom, I spent a king's ransom to get primogems and the merchandise. I used to play it every waking morning, and late at night. Then one day, I started to feel burnt out from all the grinding and the rewards no longer seem to match the difficulty. The twitter outrage and toxicity over the 1st year anniversary was the breaking point out of my obsession.

I was then on a lookout for new interest, watching ManlyBadassery videos when his gameplay of YB was recommended on my YT thumbnail feed. I gave it a watch, and thought it was an interesting concept, as I think it's the first time to that I got interested into stickman designs. What dragged me into the pit was the fan videos of the gray stickman. I thought it was very ridiculous to see peeps simping over a gray stickman like he was so sexyy, ... until I rejoined Twitter on my hardly-used nsfw account to see the fan art. They really sold me on him xD.

I started drawing him because I couldn't be on that inside jokes and memes others had made when I couldn't play the game at the time. Even if the fandom was no longer the same as it was in the beginning and I did play the game , but didn't match with my expectations (this version had its voice acting taken out), and its other issues, I really couldn't help but still find inspiration to draw for the characters as it did have its positives. It helped me in my toughest times and I want to repay that as I mentioned every now and then. Though don't get it twisted, I'm very much drawing for myself too so I can get the content I want, and life is short. It's been getting harder to get over each one, and since anything can happen, I'm preparing myself either way! People can block me if they don't like me or what I draw! I'm encouraging it, actually-- firm believer of getting along in separate rooms!

Current mood: Achieving a sense of peace within myself. It can't be helped for the way the world works, so I wanna learn to handle the challenges and the people ahead.

For YB? Y/N with any of the characters, Polyship of YNxLucyxVio, and Roy x Lucy ♥️ For Past ships. to name a few : Aether x Xiao (GI), Zero x Yuki (vampire knight), Gajeel x Levi (FairyTail), Saya x Solomon (Blood +)...

Thanks for asking and have a good one ^^ <33

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anti-dazai-blog · 11 months

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30-31- Kunikida and Chuuya should start a Dazai-specific group therapy (and other complaints)

Welcome back to the Anti-Dazai Series!!

Please forgive the month-long unplanned hiatus, I’ve been having a very eventful life lately. But the Anti-Dazai Series isn’t dead, it’s just taking longer to create than I originally thought it would.

Then again, I say that same line every time I post.

Regardless, I’m here and I have some stuff to say about Dazai. So moving on to what you all came here for:

——————————

After the Guild nearly destroyed Yokohama, the agency is working their hardest to get things back in order. Dazai, as per usual, is not helping.

Kunikida asks him to do his actual job for once. As expected, Dazai refuses and deflects. It’s then revealed that Dazai was involved in arranging a secret meeting with the boss of the Port Mafia. Kunikida is surprised by this, and asks Dazai why he of all people would be involved in arranging such a thing. Dazai reveals in the most offhanded way possible that he used to work for the Port Mafia, and that Kunikida is the last in the agency to be made aware of that fact.

Now, why does Dazai do this? There are a number of potential reasons, and I’m not satisfied that I’ve reached the right one. Revealing something like this accomplishes a few things; it increases Kunikida’s stress, it makes him feel excluded from the rest of the agency, it enforces the idea that Dazai is “mysterious” and there are many things he doesn’t know about him, it enforces the idea that Kunikida “isn’t as perceptive” as the rest of the agency (in quotation marks to stop people from reading it as a true statement in and of itself), it enforces the idea that Dazai’s “more comfortable telling personal information to the rest of the agency than Kunikida” (in quotation marks for the same reason), and lastly, it’s a subtle way of introducing the idea that Dazai talks to people casually during their breaks or off hours, and Kunikida doesn’t take breaks, so he never would get around to having these casual conversations.

Note that all of those potential reasons are specifically directed towards Kunikida (meaning they could be potential take-aways Dazai wants Kunikida to have from this exchange), and none are true general statements.

Regardless, the one that feels most accurate to the rest of Dazai’s portrayal is his insistence on portraying himself as “mysterious”. This specific way of going about is clearly ideal, given the above list of potential take-aways and how while Dazai may have intended this exchange to have the outcome of making him appear more mysterious, Kunikida’s take-away could have been anything else on that list (or a secret bonus item I didn’t think of).

Hopefully Kunikida didn’t overthink this two minute exchange as much as I did. However, I’m obligated to include that (for comedic purposes) Kunikida does pass out from stress at the end of this conversation.

———

The conclusion of the Agency and Mafia’s meeting results in a refusal to agree to an alliance or ceasefire, due to such an agreement being a prisoner’s dilemma. If one side chooses to follow the agreement while the other chooses to break it, only the dishonest side will benefit, and there are no third parties to hold them accountable.

However, Mori has his own plan; to do the agency a favor in advance, and have them pay him back later. As he’s aware that Dazai will be walking straight into a Guild ambush later that night on his quest to retrieve Q, he decides to send Chuuya to ensure the success of this retrieval mission.

And here’s where this analysis post becomes a speedrun of every minorly rude thing Dazai might have done—

1—I’m not even gonna get into what was going on with him bombing Chuuya’s car four years prior to this. Did Chuuya genuinely not know it was Dazai? It would make a surprising amount of sense if he didn’t know, since bombing a car doesn’t fit Dazai’s M.O. at all, but I can get into that another time.

2—Instead of just outright insulting Chuuya’s fashion sense, he pretends to compliment him and then takes it back, which is slightly ruder and more hurtful than a direct insult. (was he checking for Chuuya’s reaction to a supposed compliment? Based on how Chuuya reacted, we can assume this wasn’t a standard Way of Messing With Him that Dazai used to do in Mafia days. Was he just testing something new?)

3—Not only did he steal Chuuya’s knife, but he asked Chuuya if he could borrow it AFTER stealing it, to cause him the extra stress of looking for it just to see it’s not there. (Most likely he was checking if Chuuya would agree to lend it to him or not, and on the possibility Chuuya refused, he’d have it anyway. Regardless, that moment of panic when you think you’ve lost something you need was Not Worth It just to check that.)

And on the topic of that knife, let’s talk about what he does with it next. He puts it to Q’s throat and asks Chuuya if he’s going to stop him. Although he doesn’t end up going through with this threat, he did put a knife to the throat of an unconscious child just to, as per usual, test someone’s reaction to something. I do not need to explain how putting a knife to an unconscious child’s throat is not “just messing around.”

As he removes Q from John’s roots, he once again explains that Q needs to be alive to essentially “keep him in business.” So long as Q’s alive, he’ll be needed as a nullifier.

I’ve mentioned this repeatedly and I’ll mention it again, every single time it comes up: Dazai has this habit of emphasizing his usefulness as a nullifier in front of people who rely on his nullification. Here, he refers to himself as “the ultimate safety device.” It’s no coincidence that so far the characters he most frequently brings this up in front of are Atsushi and Chuuya, both of whom are reliant on his ability to keep theirs in check. Dazai reinforces the idea that he is necessary, and just as the mafia needs to keep him alive because of Q, they equally need to keep him alive because of Chuuya.

4—Using Kunikida’s Q-induced PTSD hallucinations for his own personal entertainment is just. incredibly messed up. It’s one of those trademark Dazai Things that made me start this blog. It’s one of those things that’s entirely played off as funny but becomes disturbing when you think about it for more than a second. Someone is having a panic attack in front of you and you laugh at it and film them? Yeah no what the hell. And then brag about filming them afterwards. Look I know I’m fixating on one single line in the manga that Studio Bones didn’t consider significant enough to adapt. But look this guy is deeply messed up. Can we just acknowledge that for a second. Please.

5—Back to the actual petty complaints: After Chuuya was grabbed by Lovecraft, Dazai walks over and steps on the back of Chuuya’s head/ Chuuya’s hat. This is anywhere ranging from Kinda Rude to Could Be Sued (ha it rhymes) depending on how injured Chuuya got from Lovecraft tossing him around.

[Now, I’ll be counting the following insults as petty, but for most insults between Chuuya and Dazai I won’t be counting them as anything at all. I consider the standard back and forth that Chuuya and Dazai have going on to be immensely non-hostile, as in none of those insults have any real meaning, nor do either of them interpret any deeper meaning behind it. However, any isolated insult will be judged in and of itself.]

6—Dazai says “I hope your hat seizes your consciousness and kills you.”

In general, this would count as a petty insult. However, with the added context of Stormbringer, this falls into the same category as point 4 on this list of Petty Dazai Complaints. Played off as a joke, but is actually horrifying if you think about it for more than five seconds. HOWEVER, let’s keep in mind that this chapter was written long before Asagiri wrote Stormbringer, and he most likely wasn’t aware of the added lore he’d give Chuuya’s hat. So with that in mind, I won’t hold Dazai accountable for something that Asagiri wouldn’t know about.

7—Pretending to be fatally injured just for the fun of watching Chuuya panic, immediately after Lovecraft morphed into his final form and had Chuuya semi-panicking already. I don’t know how to explain that that’s not the Fun Little Prank the anime makes it out to be.

And that’s it for my Petty Little Complaints, because now we’re up to Corruption.

I will be pointing out here that Dazai’s request for Chuuya to use Corruption immediately follows his Fun Little Prank of getting “fatally wounded”, which immediately followed Lovecraft revealing his true form. Keeping that in mind, it seems as though rather than subduing Chuuya’s stress after Lovecraft showed his true form, Dazai increased the stress instead. The anime really doesn’t do this scene justice, so if you’ve only seen it there I’d recommend reading this part of the manga. Lovecraft is massive. Lovecraft is horrifying. There’s no way anyone could make a rational, life or death decision when faced with something like him.

The decision of whether or not to use corruption is not something that should be taken lightly. Yet Dazai decides to make things harder for Chuuya by convincing him that he’s about to die from fatal wounds, and after revealing it’s “just a prank”, choosing to speficially say “we should just give up and die” rather than saying “we may need to consider using corruption” or something along those lines. He puts the idea of death, both his and Chuuya’s, in front of them before pushing Chuuya to destroy himself for the sake of the mission.

All in all, not a fan of the way Dazai presented this supposed choice to him.

{the usual addendum goes here that Dazai is often the audience’s source of exposition. Here as well, his specific way of presenting and talking about Corruption was more to inform the audience about how dangerous Corruption is, how it’s a final resort, and how Chuuya can die from using it. He talks about it in the manner he does because he needs to for the audience’s sake, so I’ll acknowledge that the whole time he’s saying “it’s so dangerous, you’ll die if I don’t stop you,” it’s directed more to the audience than Chuuya}

Now I’ve already gone on a rant about how Dazai leaving Chuuya alone, vulnerable, and unconscious in the middle of the forest at night is pretty messed up. That was actually the first post I’ve ever made about Dazai. So I won’t be repeating all that here. Rather, I’ll be linking the post here and pretending that that counts. If I don’t get this posted now I won’t be able to post it for another week, so I’ll be ending it abruptly here.

So. That’s that for this week’s entry of the Anti-Dazai Series!! Join us next time when Dazai does something else that I take issue with, as I always do, because that’s my job here on the Anti-Dazai Blog!! Thanks for reading, and enjoy the rest of your day!

#Anti-Dazai Series #No time for proofreading I’m leaving at 6am tomorrow I gotta go pack and sleep #Here have an anti-Dazai series #I’m throwing this at you with two open suitcases in front of me #Bsd #bungo stray dogs #bungou stray dogs #anti dazai #chuuya #kunikida bsd

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drippingmoon · 1 year

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A Year of Writing -- 2022

Welcome, welcome.

We’ve gone through another year now.

And I intend on tracing back my steps month by month. Feel free to tag along! Take a seat. Take a sip. Take a cat. And let’s cherish the entirety of 2022 together while it’s still here. And I do hope the good outweighs the bad for us all.

This is a feel-good, be-proud fiesta, so if you wanna hear a fellow writer cherishing their discoveries and writing journey, buckle up and I hope some — if not all — of these feelings pass on to you as well<3

First off, a million thanks to maguayans for hosting the event again!<3 She had a gorgeous idea for this year’s theme too, though I couldn’t make the most out of it personally. So in the first part we’ll tackle two of her proposed themes — then I’ll be talking about my two highlights for the year.

Word Count

Aquiver, Aglow — 217k

Aberration of Sunlight — 140k

I think I’ve learnt an important lesson this year, guys. Word count used to stress me out so much, I had to deactivate it. But even then, when I crossed that 10k mark, and no matter how justified it was... I made me depressed. Then I started working on Aberration. I said, well, this time I’ll take it easy, it really won’t matter how long it is. It’s not that I’d work less on it, or that it was less important to me than ‘quiv. But I just wanted to feel good, you know? To actually just enjoy it, instead of feeling guilty all the time. After that... I just gave up on my publishing expectations. Oh, I’ll edit both WIPs to the best of my ability, over and over again as always, but... if they stand proudest at 150k, I won’t force it further. Even if it means I won’t publish them because that won’t be good enough, yeah?

I’m not pretending they will be flawless, or that every salvaged scene will seem worth it at first glance. But it will be all I want to tell. Better than any thoughts of getting published... I’d rather just work on the two things I love best, in the only way I know.

YouTube Wrapped

Total: 13k minutes

Top artists: Borislav Slavov, HAEVN, BrunuhVille, Tom Odell, Aviators

Top song: Another Love by Tom Odell

Top tracks: Minefields by Faouzia and John Legends, Baldur’s Gate 3 OSTS: Down by the River, The Power and Wash My Pain Away by Borislav Slavov

My music personality: The Vibe Diver (you lead the charge in finding unexpected faves and stay loyal to what you love; Deep Cuts, Loyal, Chill)

And that was it for the first part! My top genres aren’t anything but Fantasy (and lately Sci-fi!) so I skipped those. Now on to the year, and how exactly it’s looked like:

January - June

Oh, these were hell lol. To say that uni as a whole — and especially the last semester — was absolute hell for me, is more than a bit of an understatement. But whatever, it’s done and over with, and I’m never returning to those days, HOO-RAY. But... this also fell in line with my going on a hiatus. I was mentally in a very bad headspace, and it just so aligned that for the first time in my life tumblr silence really got to me... and it wasn’t pretty. So I left. At one point, I guess... I didn’t feel so welcome on writeblr anymore. Not as a writer, at least. I still don’t think I’ve fully come back from that hiatus, and maybe never will. I'm basically still here for my friends, who deserve better.

No writing here; except for a notes draft I began during my two breaks. They dealt with Mezusa and Yles mainly (more about it in the ‘quiv section), and honestly? I needed them really back bad then, I’m not exactly surprised that even now, months later, my head is all full of “Catch me in your inwings?”

July

Ah. Ah. This is where the real fun begins. This is where I started taking back control of my life, and it was glorious. I began draft 4 at the very end of July, a few days after my bday, and ah.

This was when, very slowly, I started realizing I could possibly keep writing and rewriting ‘quiv all my life, and still fall in love with it every time, again. Over and over and over. Which is a pretty dangerous thought considering I do want it a completed story one day, but until then, the freedom. I have no words for how much this story means to me. But this year in particular, it’s reminded me that I am a writer. From the bottom of my heart, I do love writing, and it makes me happy.

Basically, starting from July, the remaining months turned 2022 into my very best writing year.

Draft 4 ran from August till September. There were a lot of little changes and whatnot, but I want to particularly talk about the biggest two, and my plans for the future. (which is looking particularly bright!!)

A little bit about my drafting process first. I’m a pantser through and through — I see an outline? No, I don’t, otherwise it gets my panties in a twist, I go mad, the writing goes stale, and everything gets driven straight into a tree. So I don’t do outlines, ever. So when I say I write a new draft, I rewrite the entire thing from finish to end, no skipping, no leaving anything for later, we’re doing it like we have to defend our thesis and we’ve forgotten all our notes. Very few, if any, scenes will repeat, unless they’re central events. Basically retellings of the same story lol. What’s this madness for, you ask? At the end of the drafting process (aka the mass rewrites until the plot feels natural and tight under my fingers and my characters guide me seamlessly because I’ve got them right, so not having an outline is vital because they do everything), all those drafts will come and fight in a giant reading session arena where I pick which draft did what best, and edit from there.

This is where ‘quiv is now.

Yles and Mezusa. Yles is far from being new, but I did her best and I did her justice here. That’s thanks to one character with an amusing evolution throughout all drafts: Mezusa. She started as a nameless blob of an angel character mentioned only once in draft 1 — as the tuba angel who got kicked off the choir (skylarks had made nests in her tuba). All good and fine. Then, at some point between drafts — without my knowing — she met up with Yles, and planned the biggest plot hijack I’ve ever experienced. And gave herself a name. And a plot. And a conclusion. I’m still mad about that (and incredibly proud shh).

So, who’s Mezusa now? An angel living in solitude in a cloud forest full of skylarks, who sings a song to Anne one night and asks her to come take her light. She’s a runaway from Heaven, and most angels know that she went mad, and that’s why she fled. She’s also got talons on her fingers (she couldn’t decide if birds got talons on their hands or feet and nobody provided a satisfactory answer), and a thickly smoky voice that, coupled with her word choice, sends a shiver down everyone’s spine. She’s also dying, and is very well aware of it. There’s corruption visible on her flesh, decaying her body by the day.

But this is not her story. She plays pied piper to Yles’s.

Yles’s chapter goes like this: she was blinded, thousands of years ago, during one of her visitations. Now she wishes to weave herself a new pair of eyes from the souls of their descendants, in a city that towers like a ghost over her life. It basically starts with Yles crashing through the gates all but wreathed in flames. But the thing is... she’s kept postponing the day of vengeance. Up until Anne tosses the shard of light Yles’s way, who can’t get into the starfields (angels haven’t been able to find their way there, since the Turning), so she can’t anchor Mezusa there (though she doesn’t know whose shard it is). And that’s when Yles begins to change. That’s also where Mezusa comes in. She’s forced to see why she’s hesitated so much, all while walking down the old roads her feet still know in that city made of metal, to the Citadel of Endurance.

They meet... and things change. Not that fast; Mezusa’s pretty mad at first because her shard told her Yles was about to die, cue her entrance. They fight a lot. Yles gets hurt a lot. And Mezusa... Mezusa offers her her taloned hand and gets her through the city, the memories, the pain. And she tries to teach her a lesson, because lessons are all she has to give now that she’s dying: when they’re not happy, when they’ve strayed from what they wished for desperately, their bodies listen to them. And they slowly start breaking down. Because nobody wants to suffer, and not eternally. And the body listens much more closely than they realize. So what does Yles actually seek in the Citadel?

(Yeah, that spoilers lmaooo)

In short, Mezusa starts to mean a lot to Yles. She begs her to return to Heaven, and they’ll try, together, to enter the starfields if Anne has abandoned them. She falls in love with Mezusa over the course of the chapters...

And Mezusa is dying. Now it’s starting to bother her a little. She isn’t hidden under the flocks of her skylarks, where it’s all warmth. She stays with Yles, who locks eyes with her, and tells her her dream as an angel has always been the same as Mezusa’s. And that she’s deeply thankful.

(she also refuses to let Mezusa give in to her death)

So what does Mezusa do? She gives a weak smile, says cheekily — but there’s fear in her eyes: “Catch me in your inwings?”

Aka: I think now I can find my way into the starfields if I have you. I don't want to leave you alone

I am not okay.

(One of her eyes is a hive-eye she can’t see through, half of her face looks like rotted honeycombs. She gave her shard of light to Anne so she could find her way to the stars after she died. It’s angel belief that, if they die away from Heaven, they’ll grope eternally in solitude and darkness, and they most fear the loneliness. Afterlife for angels is blind. They’ve always known what afterlife looks for them. It’s beautiful, but also cold.)

In case you were wondering how bonkers I was over these two, they made me write 13k in a single friggin' day. But that's not even the impressive part. So I started that notes draft earlier in the year, yeah? Yeah. It mostly had a scene or two sketched out. At most. And they changed completely. Meaning, I wrote 13k of spontaneous plot with a clear beginning and end, and tbh it was one of the most coherent things I've ever written.

I was possessed y'all wtf

Anne and Tyrone. Yep, this was to be expected; I can’t go through a wrap-up without losing my head over these two. The reason why ‘quiv even exists. I can’t call them parent-child, or even friends, and definitely not lovers. Dunno, I just put all my love into them, and it’s a thing without name. And you know what’s my very favourite part about rewriting? Some things, like the final arc, won’t really change, even with my system. Those scenes can’t be any other. But they can be better, and I’m always extraordinarily tickled pink to see how the build-up leads to a world of other feels. And the build-up between the final arc and the pre-arc really did leave me in tears this year<3333

Anyway, this is a spoilers minefield, so I’ll just leave you with the mental image of: Anne pulling Tyrone on a bed of feathers of her wing wrapped under him. His head rests on her leg, and she holds a hand to his forehead, wishing him sweet dreams while she’s telling the events as they’d happened in Imera’s time, and that he shouldn’t take them to heart. Not him.

What’s to come? Basically the frankendraft, and slowly, very slowly, the very last of edits. I still need to rework the kinks in Imera’s and Malchior’s bits (and bear in mind that the Yles and Mezusa bits are technically a draft 1), but at least it’s just two things this time, oh gods. With Malchior I’m gonna try a riskier thing... as in, he won’t be old friends with Anne anymore. I hope the payoff will be worth it, but hey, I’ve got all my other drafts to rescue me^^

So slowly, veeeery slowly, ‘quiv is coming to an end. Idk how to feel about it right now, other than overwhelmed lmao;( I am not ready at all

9 p.m. sharp after getting home, the closed door, a mug of hot cocoa with whipped cream to the fairy lights on my tables, and tap-tap-tap till 11 or sometimes even 12. That's what my life looked like for two months, and I honest-to-god can’t wait to go back to that.

I’m extremely happy to introduce my newest darling, the pride and joy of this writing year of mine. I didn’t expect to love another WIP after ‘quiv, and certainly not so soon, but here we are, and this WIP means everything to me, the other side of the coin.<3

Huge cheers to all the Halo: CE, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST OSTs and Grace by Lewis Capaldi for basically carrying me through them two months, and I highly recommend checking the OSTs if you’re craving great quality sci-fi songs and don’t know them; for those of you that do, you’re welcome for the nostalgia. Also huge shout-out to my nightfriend, for being the main catalyst why this year got turned topsy-turvy into the best<3 love you so much! I’m so happy to have had the chance to know you, both as a writer and a person. You’re incredible to me<3

What’s it about? (and forgive the blurb quality)

The universe has always been haunted by a story: a Beast of the Deep Night, a remnant of a black hole, the one being people can't steal from, as they say. It roams the Deep Night, and any astronaut who values their life knows to pay tribute in their heart, and to mind their actions. It's the Beast's realm. And they call the Beast the lambent guardian, taking back from humanity everything they take from the universe.

A foolish man, A. Holloway, goes into rosy space in search of immortality. Between the Beast and the war, it doesn't seem likely that he'll find it. Soon a new recruit joins the ship, and things take a strange turn: she's an oddball, that one. Laughing, but distressed, the crew starts betting if she's the Beast in disguise, come aboard their ship for judgement.

She smiles and never denies anything.

But that universe doesn't look the same now. Hundreds, if not thousands of years after Holloway, the world is ending. The Beast is rampaging, ships sinking in the night, and now it turns a planet into fire and brimstone. Humanity's had to give up on its dream of freedom, and what remains are cities of rust.

Those who have nothing to live for go between planets, to ferry supplies, while they still can.

Police Superintendent Madigan sometimes receives distress calls. There's no sending any help, ever; Command says, a ship sighted by the Beast is a ship that is never returning home.

Command is right. The world is dying, and they better not offer it more sacrifices. All those who go know the risk. All those who remain... better find a new meaning and hope they'll be left for last. One day, Madigan receives another distress call. He picks it up, without knowing that the boy on the other end didn't expect anyone to help. He merely wished to hear another human voice. But Madigan's fallen into a deep state of apathy. Cities rusted from within, sinking in flames. If it's ending, it doesn't matter what he does anymore. So Madigan steals a ship, and decides to give his one shot to humanity.

Soon, they'll be two back-to-back against the Beast, carrying all of hope on their shoulders.

[You know what’s fun? I’m a very baby sci-fi fan. It’s been, what, six months since I’ve read two series I’ve really enjoyed, and that made me stop a little. Because it seemed so wrong. I adored to bits Aliens, Halo, Gears of War, but usually... it's not my genre, and I found pieces written so clinically, I just didn't have anything to connect to. And I was never big on robots; they seem to me to mirror the way people still regard animals, but with more prestige, because they’re humanoids, you see? So it’s just not my world. Or wasn’t. I did a little more digging and... I think it’s the space horror that’s shaped my earliest years of my life. I’m definitely one of those people who need the Very Dark to appreciate the light stuff truly, and Aberration helped me explore that in spades.

(And, yeah, I’m aware Halo isn’t exactly horror. But the drop-dead gorgeous atmosphere of ODST does the trick for me; that mixture of loneliness and uncertainty that make you feel so small in the universe, which I absolutely wanted to pay a tribute to. But that failed in like... chapter 1 lmao;) only the jazz is kept (and I’m gonna hang to it with my teeth!) but even that is warped into a glitched, disturbed thing that resembles the Beast more.)]

This was my NaNo project, y’all! Aberration won Nano on November 21 at 55k, and became a completed first draft... exactly one month later?? On December 21. Even when I came home tired to the bone, it was the thing I most looked forward to; I always sat down and at least did par, and you know? It always cheered me up. It was such a healthy experience, so much that, I didn’t skip on any single day on those two months.

Aberration itself became an idea at the beginning of 2021, when I was listening to an Ori OST remake, and my head went instantly, if space had any single sound, this would be it. The Beast came very soon after.

Then it was my 1k story for my admission, and eventually it turned into the outline for the foolish man (Holloway’s) part of story. Everything in his parts was there, in that 1k original, and that’s when I knew I wanted it to be a book.

Meaning, the rest of it, the entirety of Madigan’s story which is the core of Aberration, came to me as some sort of mystical trance the very day before NaNo. Some details in Holloway’s too. I completely revamped the WIP, as, at that time, something felt missing, and finally it clicked for me. I wanted it to become something much darker, rich in a way like those three series felt to me, aaaand this also means that the light-hearted story about a Beast joining a ship and cherishing them got thrown out of the window lol:')

Instead, we got my pride and joy:< and since it was the day before NaNo, my brain went, heyyyy, what if...?? And I went, heyyy to you too, if I manage to come up with an intro by tonight, then we’ll do it.

And the rest is history^^

Who's Madigan? He's the easiest boss to boss around, a pushover like a doormat's never been, and that's until he starts really caring about something. And if you look deeper, you'll see that's exactly how he wants others to perceive him. So they won't ever be afraid to approach him because of his status. At his core, Madigan loves people, and he loves them deeply. His job is his life’s calling. He feels the happiest when he’s protecting others. He sure as hell would mind losing his life... but rather than losing his loved ones, he'd rather risk his own. People are too precious to him. Even so, he's mostly alone. Oh, yes, people respect him and his close colleagues smile fondly his way, his mantle is his everything. But at the end of the day, there's nobody waiting for him. And what's even worse, he doesn't even realize this, not until very late. And when he does, he doesn't think it's right for him to be that close to someone. They have others in their life already, and he only complicates stuff.

Also!! The structure is way different from ‘quiv, and we’ve got titled chapters which I’m awfully proud of, so we’ll be going through them for the final leg of this journey<3 and, and! You know what’s the best part of it all? I know exactly what goes on in each of them, by heart. *flails hands* I love them so much!!

Cracked Visor, Scorpion Grass — Act 1

Okay, this one is a huge mess, but I already know what I want it to become. And it did its job more than well launching me into the Aberration atmosphere, crisp with loneliness and desolation, and the main event of Madigan finding the broken helmet in a field of purple forget-me-nots, which makes him feel connected to humanity as a whole. It makes him decide to answer that distress call. He hears himself there.

Into the Blinking Red

This is where I got kicked out of my own story and plans again, and in the best way possible. Originally, Spica (or Hahn’s boy, until the 40k story marker lmao) was supposed to be just some mangled body Madigan finds on the ship at the end of that distress call, launching us straight into the horror.

Instead, he’s our one-armed best little soldier who... how do I even describe it? He refuses from the very beginning to ever leave Madigan behind, even with the Beast’s teeth snapping at their backs. Then they’re having each other’s back, bringing the other from the brink of death, worrying over their bed if they’re ever going to recover from their wounds. Then they’ve only got each other on a dark ship in cold, dead space, but they’re always trying to give the other hope, even if they don’t have it. Then they’re talking about space, humanity’s long dream of being free and instead caging itself away from the Beast and how much Spica’s mission means to them all, then little, very little by little... Spica recognizes Madigan as his hero, and Madigan realizes Spica’s become his loved one. And it’s too late to take it back, and the boy means everything to him

Aberration of Light

Ah, yes. The Holloway chapters, which are the ones in italics. What went wrong, you ask? Well, what in the world, except that I had an outline, like an idiot, and no lesson learnt:') :') :') from the beginning this made me feel like I was slamming my head into a wall, and everything bad that I have to completely rewrite stems from the goddamn outline

(otherwise, fun Beast mythology oh yeahhhh)

Nightfall’s Reflection

Enter Lieutenant Hahn himself, the dad, who rides in furiously, and the first thing he does is to unhinge his jaw and gave rise to a howl from the depths of his angry little soul: to demote Madigan, specifically:') but it’s all good, he’s a good dad actually, just thinks his Superintendent is a wet little sock and loves screaming at him. He’s also so loyal to the man he’d die for him. He’s also not pleased that the Beast’s bitten off one of his son’s arms.

Who Lays These Tombs in Ice

Ah, yes. One of the two Luitgart chapters, the magnate of ice. A planet that’s had half of its sunlit face scarred by the Beast, and is in no hurry to forget this. This was also when I pulled an all-nighter because I got possessed, for the second time this year it seems, by the new plot ideas I spontaneously got for the Luitgart arc. And boy. Boy. I’ve got to tell you. This is where the story takes a very dark turn into true horror that also extends a bit beyond the Beast itself and it gets to the point of no return, because, soon, our crew will be stranded on an icy planet around which the Beast’s looped itself:')

(In short, this is, perhaps, the most punchy arc in perhaps the entire book, because you do not expect it)

As for Luitgart... it deserves a little love. As does Hahn, who’ll be my new objective come next draft. Now, Luitgart. It doesn’t spin on its axis. Meaning, one face is always sunlit, and that’s where humans lived before the Beast struck. Its dark half is full of unforgiving ice. But the ruined landscape also has a big impact on its gravity, and that’s where things get a lot of fun, and with horizontal ice rain:<

We also get Madigan digging graves in the ice for frozen corpses, in spite of his broken ribs, because he can’t stop, not now, and do I love that man<3

Lemon-Dotted Dice — Act 2

So yeah, Acts 1 and 2 for Holloway are going to be rewritten completely, with the outline (thank god) thrown out of the window. Great news is, their Act 3 slammed me in the face with the exact solution, via a couple of plot twists I was not expecting and wtf they did they build themselves??

Bad news is, this makes the current summary moot lmao. But it’s what draft 1 is, so it had to stay. Great news is, I’m hyper thrilled for the new version<3

Remnant

This was where the plot started deviating from the outline, and it showed<3

Corpse Snow

Aka the second and final part of the Luitgart chapters. A whole lot of things go down in this 20k behemoth, and mostly? I don’t think anything will change. Not much at all. It feels strange to return to a WIP with plot, but strange in a good way, and everything in Corpse Snow somehow magically came out as I wanted to tell it. Or re-reading will tell? Anyway I can’t connect two braincells about this particular act without wanting to heart and cry vomit

You know what the sad thing is? It could’ve been longer. It should’ve been longer, Hahn included, but I got deathly afraid of that 20k at one point, and decided to cut some stuff out. I’m thinking of adding them back in draft 2, but I’ll sleep on it. I need to sleep on it, or else I risk losing some really good stuff.

And this is also the chapter when Madigan wakes up and sees clearly, wide-eyed, oh, Spica’s his loved one

[also gonna throw this out into the world before it can ever become a thing. There’s nothing romantic between them; Madigan’s exactly 43 as per one of his random rants, and Spica is in his early twenties. They’re got the most familial relationship out there and that’s it]

Wine in the Hanging Lights

</3

What Goes Around... — Act 3

Sadly this is where I’ll have to learn to shut up kindly, because the heavy spoilers begin. So I’ll just spoil you with emoji lmaooo:<

❤❤💞💘��💗⛔❗⁉️💀👾❗➖🚫

Outreach

THIS. THIS ONE. HOLY FUCK. The plot twist it threw right into my face woke me up from a 8h zombie state of post-proofreading work, and I was pretty much swearing out loud the entire night. All praise Outreach, it solved all my outline issues<3333

Days in Darkness

Now, on the other hand, I was highkey looking forward to this chapter the most out of all. The gorgon (aka the ship Madigan stole, ahem, borrowed) is getting character development here as well, and it’s a beast:<

(It seems the smallest Act, yeah? Yeah, it was the longest)

Echo Terminal — Act 4

We little people on a loop system... heading for the end of the universe... heading for certain doom... lalalala nice background music... oh, someone loses a leg. Oh, someone dies again. A ghostly explosion around the gorgon... oh, I see the Beast’s fangs.

Where Have You Gone?

This does not mean what you think it does, I guarantee you. Also where we part with Holloway’s story, and why it matters for Madigan’s. How they connect.

Solgesis

One of the two log chapters, the other being Echo Terminal. They’re much shorter, but very... to the point. The plot twist from Outreach? Gets built and expanded here. And here goes in all my revamp from the day before NaNo.

Beads of Orichalcum

Nothing to see here, just a tonnuva righteous fury, parallelism like it’s nobody’s business, Madigan being highkey a badass finally, and we’re very very near to the end. Though it doesn’t feel so. Not at all. It’s back to the bleak atmosphere of the beginning, but now there’s a change: they have each other now. And there’s no separating them.

The End of the Deep Night

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

...on the other hand, in case you were wondering how possessed I was about this chapter and really, WIP, hear me out: I actually dreamt of those two and that became the very last scene of the book. Which, whoops, spoilers? They’ve got each other. Till the end. But that’s all I’m saying lalala...

Whew! Must’ve felt like another year. In reading, though, because for me it passed in an instant hahahaha. Or it would’ve, if tumblr hadn’t screwed me over and thrown me out of my drafts thus deleting everything I’d written on Aberration...

All that remains are a lot of heartfelt thanks! If you’ve made it this far and accompanied me to the bottom of the post, I’m whipping up a mug of the most delicious cocoa with whipped cream you’ve ever had, you more than deserve it and I love you<3

And HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I hope to see more of you and your incredible writing. And I hope you also feel like writing is a part of you and... fuck drafts, fuck perfectionism, fuck everything lol. This is what makes us happy. For a visible reason. And each and every one of you can and does shine through your writing, and the love or feeling you pour inside. I believe in you, and there’s nothing you can’t do ❤🥂

#ayearofwriting #aquiver-aglow #aberration of sunlight #in case you need something to read #here's a behemoth

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