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insanityclause · 6 months

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Now that Loki season two has closed the TVA Handbook on Loki’s story, the question remains as to whether Tom Hiddleston has bid adieu to the MCU. It’s hard to imagine a better ending for the former God of Mischief, and since Loki‘s potential series finale aired last week, Hiddleston even referred to the episode as the “conclusion” of his 14-year journey with Loki. However, when pressed further on the subject this week, he then created a little bit of wiggle room for himself to return someday.

For Loki executive producer Kevin R. Wright, Hiddleston’s finale performance felt like a goodbye of sorts.

“I think his approach to that performance certainly was [a send-off], and I think we all felt that on set,” Wright tells The Hollywood Reporter.

But similar to his lead actor, Wright is quick to issue his own caveats.

“We wanted this to feel like a proper ending for our show, but that does not mean that there won’t be more Loki or stories within this world,” Wright adds. “We just wanted to give this a proper ending in a way that we often don’t get to do in the MCU.”

Wright, who originated much of the series’ foundational elements through his own pitch years ago, says that he’s still making the case for more TVA stories in the MCU.

“I would love to keep telling TVA stories. Internally, people pitch everything, and I’m actively like, ‘I want to do more TVA!’” Wright shares. “It will just end up being about where it makes sense for them to come in, in the future, but we all look at that corner of the MCU and go, ‘God, we’re just scratching the surface.’”

Below, during a recent spoiler conversation with THR, Wright also addresses a couple Mobius fan theories and how he’s looking forward to developing future TV series in a more traditional fashion.

So, in the end, instead of killing Sylvie to save time itself, Loki makes the ultimate sacrifice for the good of everyone else, and in doing so, he tasks himself with literally holding the fabric of existence together. And to me, that’s both a tragic and triumphant end. Why was this the right note to end the series on?

I’m glad those are the two feelings, because that’s what we were going for. (Laughs.) I don’t know if I can answer that beyond what you just said; it’s just the right ending to the story. We always knew the show was going to end with Loki on a throne, even in season one, and it was never about where he was going. It was always about the feeling we wanted audiences to feel when he got there, and it was about building the story that led to that feeling. Ultimately, because I don’t want to get too into the weeds on the last ten minutes of the show, we all feel like the answers and the intentions are there on screen.

But what I can say, generally, is that we are all really bored by the binary of hero-villain, good guy-bad guy, good choice-bad choice. In the real world, choices are really complicated. Real heroism often goes completely unrewarded. It often involves people who are making really tough decisions and will never benefit from the sacrifices that they’re having to make. And if you can build a superhero comic-book story that dives into the weeds of a more complicated heroism, then that was a challenge that was worth it to us to try. And Loki is the best character to do that with in many ways.

Technically, did Loki become the God of Stories, or a personified version of Yggdrasil, the Norse Tree of Life?

Are those mutually exclusive? It all comes back to questions of free will. Is he writing stories, or is he allowing stories to continue to be told? Is he weaving them together? It’s an interpretation of what exactly he did there at the end, but I think both can potentially be true.

Of course, anything is possible within the comic book genre, but this finale feels like a send-off for Tom Hiddleston as this character. Do you think we’ve seen the last of Tom’s Loki for at least a long while?

I think his approach to that performance certainly was [a send-off], and I think we all felt that on set. We wanted this to feel like a proper ending for our show, but that does not mean that there won’t be more Loki or stories within this world. We just wanted to give this a proper ending in a way that we often don’t get to do in the MCU. But also, in Marvel comics and the history of comics, the end of a comic run doesn’t mean the end of that character or those stories. And if there’s another story to be told or further stories to be told with what we’re doing here — and it’s with the right filmmakers and the right writers and the right team — then we would love to continue to see Tom. I also said this in season one, but I honestly think Tom will play Loki until he’s Richard E. Grant’s Classic Loki. It’s about the right thing and when we’re doing it, and being really careful about how we build those stories.

The TVA still has some unfinished business, as they have to track Kang variants. So will the TVA appear in the MCU again at some point?

I would love to keep telling TVA stories. Internally, people pitch everything, and I’m actively like, “I want to do more TVA!” It will just end up being about where it makes sense for them to come in, in the future, but we all look at that corner of the MCU and go, “God, we’re just scratching the surface.”

360 sets. You begged and pleaded for them, and they were worth their weight in gold. Kasra Farahani also sounded optimistic that this approach might become more common on other MCU projects. So do you think you’ve successfully made your case to the crested blazers of the Marvel Studios Parliament?

We’ll see. It comes down to the speed at which we make streaming shows, and that’s natural for TV. That’s not a Marvel speed. You’re shooting a lot in small schedules, and it’s benefited by having sets and not having to do a ton of VFX in every shot. It makes good practical sense, and there’s a reason why people did it for a hundred years of moviemaking. It’s about when it makes sense for our stories, certainly, but we’re also telling comic book stories, and sometimes, things have to be more fantastical than what you can build. So it’s about being smart and how you do it. I love it, and I know our team loves it. When we were shooting Loki, we had a number of filmmakers who visited set, and their reactions were like, “They let you build all this?” And it’s like, “Yeah! Wait, you’re not? You should be doing this, too.” (Laughs.) So, long answer short, yeah, I think people have seen what we did and they see that it’s an option now, and will hopefully embrace it.

Fan theories can be both a blessing and a curse, as your friends on WandaVision know, but have you lost any sleep over not making the McDonald’s kid a young Mobius (Owen Wilson)?

No, but I love that theory. I also saw that maybe Mobius is an Odin variant, and that was really imaginative and cool, too. So it was never discussed and I never lost sleep over it, although I read all that stuff and I love it. Partially why Loki feels more densely layered than some other projects is we know that people are looking at it in that way and are digging into everything. So everybody on the team really embraces that and goes, “If it’s in frame, it has to hold up the scrutiny.” We’re either subliminally hiding things in there, or we’re putting things in there to misdirect so that we can better impact people with something more surprising. But I love that people engage with it that way, and I hope that they see that we are engaging back with them in how we build the show.

And what about a medium shot of Loki and Mobius on the tandem bicycle? Do you regret that you won’t see that meme for the rest of your life?

No, because I can go online and I can see it in all of the amazing fan art. It’s out there. We knew you just had to handle that with a very light touch, and the audience will fill in the blanks. And they beautifully have.

Marvel made a bunch of release date moves recently, and we’re not going to see much of you in 2024. Are you a bit relieved since Marvel Studios’ own temporal loom won’t be overloaded?

What’s exciting to me — and this is something [head of streaming at Marvel] Brad Winderbaum has talked about — is what I personally will get to be making next. We’ll really be able to have the time to slowly build it, find the right team for it, find the right people to develop it, build a pilot and build things on a more traditional schedule. It’s a little bit like the sets. It’s good, it’s practical, it’s smart, and when things are done right with the right team, these projects can be really, really good. And I think Loki is really, really good. So, if we give the development and production cycle the right amount of attention and build a calendar in a way that allows us to really do this correctly, you will get to see more projects that are of this caliber. It’s just about giving the creatives the space and the resources to do things properly. So, ultimately, this is a really good thing. I know people want more, but I also know that if we take time with it, they will appreciate what they get.

Well, the ultimate compliment I can pay all of you is that I didn’t care much for Loki prior to this series, and not because he was a bad guy or anything like that. This show fulfilled the original promise of these Marvel Disney+ series by deepening this character in a way that the movies don’t have time for, and I have nothing but fondness for Loki now. So Loki should be the case study for how valuable Disney+ can be for Marvel.

One, thank you. Two, I agree. I know that our writers, Justin [Benson], Aaron [Moorhead], Kate [Herron] and everybody would also agree, and that was the most appealing part of this. You can slowly take your time and build a really fulfilling story. We have very little action this season. (Laughs.) There’s a lot of thrills and there’s a lot of big stuff, but it was about really taking our time to build a character story that can feel truly fulfilling. So I look forward to being able to do more stories this way.

#kevin r wright #interview #tom hiddleston #loki

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definitelynotafurinasimp · 2 years

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Them with a reader that likes making overly complicated plans that still somehow work

Characters: Kokomi / Collei x gn!reader (seperate)

Warnings: could contain spoilers for Sumeru, other than that it’s just fluff

a/n: This wasn't a request, I simply decided to write a bit for Collei first to get used to how to write her. So since this is my first time writing for Collei, I'm really sorry if she's a bit ooc or her part is a shorter.

That being said, if you have any tips on how to write Collei better, feel free to tell me, I would really appreciate it.

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Kokomi

Kokomi, being the talented strategist that she was, was able to understand her enemies’ strategies with nothing but a simple glance, instantly thinking of countless ways to counter them in both short- or long-term. But even she had to admit that she sometimes had difficulties keeping up with your plans, and while she’d eventually comprehend it, it used to take more brainpower than she liked.

Luckily for her and everyone else, the war in Inazuma had long been ended, and while that meant that your complicated—but effective—plans were no longer needed on the battlefield, you simply moved on to different fields.

While the divine priestess and her general were just about to finish their conversation, it came to an unexpectedly abrupt end when Gorou froze upon seeing you enter the room with a few papers in hand, causing Kokomi to also take a glance at you before realising what was about to come when she saw your smile, only for it to already be too late as you closed the door behind you before handing both of them what appeared to be their respective timetables.

“Miss Sangonomiya, you had asked me to replan your schedule to make it more effective and less energy draining, but I decided that since I was already working on schedules, I might as well just improve the other’s as well”, you declared, making her remember the time she agreed your offer while being more than just a bit exhausted, the idea of spending less energy while doing the same work having sounded especially appealing to her in that moment.

“That sounds great, but I was pretty happy with my old schedule”, the general muttered out loud enough for you to hear it, only for you to. turn to him with an even bigger smile.

“Then you’re going to love this one”, you responded before focusing back on the divine priestess, “You should be able to safe a whole hour with my schedule, Kokomi”, you told her, your excitement being so big that you forgot to keep up appearances, calling her by her given name.

“Don’t get me wrong but isn’t there a way to make it-… less complicated?”, she eventually spoke up, already knowing your answer long before you had even opened your mouth to respond.

“Maybe. But did any of my plans ever not succeed?”, you asked in return, only for both of them to let out a small sigh of defeat once they had to admit you were right before shaking their heads, their reactions causing your smile to get wider before you said your goodbye, with Kokomi seeing you already approaching the next person, schedule in hand.

Collei

Whenever you handed Collei the "best possible route" to finish your tasks, the forest-ranger trainee couldn’t help but feel slightly lost. And while you made sure to use easy to understand words while writing the plan, not wanting to confuse her with unnecessary fancy language, all that effort became wasted due to the overcomplicated nature of your routes.

But your plans tended to work most of the time, and memories wouldn’t creep into her mind when her brain was occupied trying to make sense of your choice of routes, causing her to simply follow along with them most of the time, leaving you to lead the way while she did her job.

“Is there something wrong?”, you asked Collei after observing her staring at the piece of paper you had handed her only a few minutes ago with a look of confusion, starting to get worried that you had made some sort of mistake.

“Not really, but wouldn’t it make more sense to go here first and then deal with the mushrooms? Since they’re farther away”, she responded while showing the paper to you and pointing at the different spots on the map you had drawn.

“Well, if we do that, we might be more exhausted once we get to the mushrooms and have to fight. So, I thought we might as well deal with them while we aren’t tired and do the rest afterwards”, you explained your thinking to Collei, getting a slow nod as a response as it seemingly made sense to her, causing a small smile to appear on your lips before you spoke up once again, “Well, since that’s cleared, how about we set off?”

Instead of answering, Collei spent the next few seconds silently staring at you, your smile and happy stature reminding her of her memories in Mondstadt, only for your voice to interrupt her thoughts before they had any chance to get to any unpleasant ones.

“Collei?”, you said her name out loud, her silence slightly worrying you, only for her to startle a bit before putting on a smile.

“Sorry, I was… lost in thoughts for a moment”, she admitted before readying herself and following you. And while there were still a lot of parts of today’s route she didn’t completely understand, she figured that as long as she followed you, she shouldn’t get lost.

#genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader #genshin x you #genshin x y/n #kokomi imagines #kokomi x y/n #kokomi x you #kokomi x reader #collei #collei x reader #collei x y/n #collei x you #collei imagines

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fueledbysano · 2 years

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𝟎𝟎𝟗 | still take you home

summary: and as he looked into her eyes deeply for the first time, he could see the future that he never dreamt of, but now longed for more then ever. [ Y / N ] shares a sweet moment with Mikey as she treats his wounds after a fight. Takemichi meets the pair's daughter from the future.

content/warnings: this story contains major Tokyo Revengers manga spoilers, canon divergence setting, tenjiku arc setting, comfort, fluff, angst, detailed writing of violence, weapons, blood, death, and strong language.

a/n: using a new layout :) also i apologize for the lack of updates i still very much love this series but I had to reread the arc and it required a lot of finding for free time to do that. anyways, here's nine.

wc: 4k

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The school gates after hours were a place for lovers and cliques. Every available seat was occupied by either— a couple gazing into one another’s eyes; or a fun group cracking jokes. Yet by the fountain stood a lonesome girl, statue-like in her styled uniform.

[ Y / N ] almost belonged, but not quite.

You dressed in scrubby maroon trousers like all others and wore a white button-up with a complementing necktie under a black leather jacket patched with some band logos that had been in fashion before you were born.

While it quite sucks that none of your close friends in Toman or the girls go to the same school, the loneliness in the environment is a blessed curse. I think most people will agree when I say— Existence by yourself offers the possibility for true tranquility to settle every aspect of your being after a stressful day.

Growing up alone was terrifying to you. You’re fortunate in a way that you eventually had people’s pleasant company that has brought harmony, delight, and a fresh sense of surprise. All while respecting your personal time.

We occupy this equilibrium, and it is wise to be aware of these emotional ebbs and flows.

This school was your only “break” from the bustle of you and your friends’ gang life, so it was only acceptable that none of the people here truly knows the reasons behind your absences, as well as your reserved and serious demeanor; and you were happy to maintain decent grades whilst keeping a low profile.

However, trying to live two different lives will eventually catch on, and will make things complicated.

“No shit, she does street racing?!” You subtly turn your head to the right, only to see in your peripheral vision the clique of the school’s wealthy and “popular” kids seated on the other side of the fountain.

Were they talking about me? You question yourself, and maintain your posture. You know it’s possible that at some point, your schoolmates will have to find out that you break speed limits (and when necessary, bones) for a living. and you were never really ready for that.

“Makes sense, she doesn’t even come to school every day and we’ve never seen her outside. Probably gets into fights too.” One girl spoke. You find it quite obnoxious of her to spread rumors about someone right behind them.

“She seems cool, invite her over and let’s ask.” One guy spoke up.

“Yo, [ L / N ]–chan!” The group finally made themselves visible to you by surrounding your space.

“Care for a drink?” A girl offered.

“That depends.” You answered, relaxing your shoulders and letting your elbows situate on the concrete behind you.

“It’s on us!” They insisted.

“I can hear you, y'know?” You spoke, referring to the earlier incident.

“Yeah. So… Do you still wanna come?” The girl asks.

“Hm,” You hum in response, taking a few steps forward as you stuffed your hands in your pockets. Not only they’re obnoxious gossipers, but also rude.

Did they mean alcohol? If so, you didn't want to overshare and drive under the influence. If they meant coffee or anything of the like, it’s always nice to get treated. And although you don’t exactly like it, small talk would do. It’s a small price to pay for their company and drink.

However, having heard what they have been talking about earlier, you knew their intentions right away. So, you had to decline.

Just as you were about to respond, a crowd of students at the front started to steer clear of the area as the sound of a familiar, loud motorcycle engine was fast approaching. You hum to yourself before walking past the group, just in time as Mikey pulls over at the front gate.

He was quite earlier than the usual time when he fetches you from school.

“Hey, B. Hop in.” He spoke, tossing a helmet your way which you effortlessly caught just above your height.

Mikey kept a close glare on the group of students who were surrounding you. “I’ll catch you another time.” you mounted the seat behind him on the motorcycle before securing the helmet over your head.

“Tch.” Although you couldn’t see it, one of the girls rolled her eyes and took her friend as they left.

“Hey, Mikey.” You smiled at him through the side mirror, encasing his torso in your arms.

“Come on.” He pats your arm before revving the engine loudly and then speeding off.

“Were those kids bothering you?” He asks once you reach a quieter road.

“Actually, I can’t tell.” You answered. “This isn’t the way to my house. Where are we off to?”

“Emma. She wants to have you and Hina over for dinner.”

“Yes!”

Not long enough, the two had pulled over in front of a small record store where Emma part-timed.

“Everyone will meet here. Do you mind waiting?”

“Not at all, I like hanging out here.” You answer upon opening the glass doors to the shop, the dainty bells above making a sweet chime which notified Emma of your presence.

“[ Y / N ]-chan! Let me just close up and we’ll go.” She spoke from behind the counter.

“Take your time, I’ll be here.” You waved her off, making yourself comfortable on the common area couch. “What’s new this week?” Your eyes were focused on scanning through the vinyl records to test out on the player.

However, just as you picked your choice, Mikey had already put on a Linkin Park record which started to spin and play on the player. With a smile, you relaxed back down on the seat, letting your legs rest above Mikey’s lap which earned a faint hum from him.

But just as he saw your cozy state laid on the couch comfortably, he pats on your leg with a smile, keeping it in place before slouching onto a more comfortable position himself.

“I’m so glad we got to go home early today, we have been preparing for the event all day…” Mikey didn’t even hear your fussing, his mind too clouded with the thought of your closeness and how he wished you didn’t have other plans and stay just as it is.

“Mikey, it's almost time.” Draken’s voice followed the store bell chime, diverting your head to the Toman founders heading to see their leader.

“Right.” You let your legs fall to the ground to let Mikey get up, then shift to get up on your own.

“Hey, Emma! We're leaving.” Draken calls.

“Yeah, say goodbye to your brother.” Mikey added.

“Bye, Mikey!” Emma waved from behind the counter. “And uh, goodbye, Draken!” She smiled sweetly at the tall boy as the rest of them left.

However, Mikey remained, eyeing his friends on their bikes before turning to you, who returned to the seat to inspect your phone.

“Hey.” He was situated on your side, making his presence known.

“Hm?” You hummed in response, now looking the boy in his eyes.

“A kiss before we leave?” With a pout, he asks so adoringly, making it impossible for you to deny. Which you didn't, leaning forward to initiate a sweet kiss with the boy as your second kiss with him.

“You're my first kiss, you know?” You breathed out in between kisses.

“And I you.” He sweetly responds. “And I want a thousand more.” He added, pulling you in for another kiss before he leaves.

“Have fun at dinner.” Mikey grins.

“Good… luck with the meeting?” You chuckled.

“I'll see you soon.” Mikey's hands wandered down your waist for a hug before sending himself off. However, upon turning to the doors, Draken stood tall with his arms crossed and an impatient look on his face.

“AH!” Mikey yelped.

“Tsk.” Draken shook his head.

“Oh, there’s the lint.” Your hands scurried to his shirt to flick off a "lint".

“Bye bye!”

“Bye…” You waved in response, watching him leave the store with Draken.

“So, what are we having?” You turn to Emma just as she leaves the staff room.

“Hina is showing us the new place that opened up down the road.” She smiled, flipping the “CLOSED” sign on the door you’d just walked past.

“Hina-chan! This is an amazing choice of place. The food and ambience is really nice.” You chirp just as the waiter leaves upon serving your desert.

“Hm, I wish I had ordered the parfait too…” Hina admired the treat on the table.

“We can share, here.” You insist, pushing the tall glass in the middle of the table.

“So, my friends at school were talking about kid names,” Hina mentioned while digging into the layers of cream,

“Why?” You wondered, picking off the cherry on top.

“We drew our ‘future kids’ in arts class today. The teacher was asking for a name too.” She explained.

“I’m glad we didn’t do that at my school. Would’ve taken me more than a day. I’m very indecisive.” You chuckled.

“You would.” She agreed.

“Anyways, what did you come up with?”

“I really like the name Lili.” She spoke.

“That’s so cute, Hina-chan! I would’ve put Kuroe.” Emma agreed.

“Like the American movie? That’s so nice.” You spoke.

“What about you, [ Y / N ]?” Emma nodded in agreement before turning to you.

“I… don’t know. Never really thought of it. Ask me again in like… Twelve years?” You chuckled, tossing in a random number as you finished the fruit.

While digging into the parfait, you were lost in thought when all of a sudden you remembered a name you adored and had once read in a book you enjoyed. Morin, that’s right.

“But, I do like the sound of the name—” Just as you were about to mention it, your phone rang and displayed the name of one of your teammates. “Excuse me.” You sigh, sliding out of the booth you sat on.

During your absence, Emma and Hina carried on with the conversation until the blonde girl had emptied her cup of tea.

“Alright, it's reading time.” One of her found-hobbies was Tasseography, which is the art of identifying symbols and interpreting messages found in the shapes and configurations of tea leaves.

“I’ll finish this then do mine too!” Hina spoke, sipping on her own cup.

“Yeah, me too. You haven't done my leaves in a while, Emma.” You returned just in time, pushing your empty tea cup towards the girl.

“Alright, give me.” She picked the ceramic cup, carefully inspecting the shapes at the bottom of it.

“[ Y / N ]–chan?”

“Yeah?” You hum, watching her reactions.

“Are you and Mikey dating?” She asks right away.

“What?” Your eyes widened, curious of what she had in mind.

“You see— this sign here means strong emotion, and uh… here is a heart for love, romance, and home…” She observed, showing the symbols for you.

“If the zodiac wheel is printed on this cup, the heart would be on… the Leo house.” She added.

“Mikey-kun is a Leo!” Hina mentioned.

“Yeah, exactly.” Emma agreed. “This chain pattern right here means a series of events and responsibility so you will be busy…” She continued,

“and uh, the cross sign here means… plus, or addition. Something or someone is coming into your life. That’s all.” Emma finished, placing the cup back down.

“Is that bad?” You wondered.

“Only fate knows.” She smiled, which you hummed in response to.

“Your turn, Hina-chan!” Emma turned to her.

“So, all that from an empty cup of tea?” Hina questioned.

“Amazing, huh?” She responded, this time with the other girl’s tea cup in her hands.

“Uhm, about Mikey…” You started,

“You don't worry about me! I always knew you two would end up together, you know?” Emma chuckled and paused for a moment. “and I helped him pick the flowers he gave you, so I figured.” She shrugged.

“You know, I hated being given flowers. It’s like people are giving me something to look after. Like a pet.” You mentioned, slightly slouching on your booth. “So I’d rip them apart and put them in my car to smell nice.” You added.

“But, I didn’t do that with the ones he gave, they’re still fresh on my desk.” You smiled to yourself before noticing your two friends giggling at your words. “Whatever.” You shrugged off, turning your gaze away.

“I never knew someone would like my brother this much.” Emma pointed out.

“Shut up.” You laughed, tossing a napkin towards their way.

“Okay, I’m done reading yours, Hina-chan.”

“Tell me everything!”

After your dinner, Hina insisted on heading home while you and Emma decided to stop by at Toman’s meeting. Sitting on the trunk of one of the parked cars, you managed to get a view of the scene in front of the taller guys who were towering your view.

Mikey is currently in the middle of a fight with a few guys, with two of them left standing and evidently struggling to fight back.

“I thought this was just a meeting.” You wondered, sipping from the bottle of water in your hand.

“He’s punishing the guys who attacked the third division.” Mitsuya joined your spot.

“That gang, right.” You nodded.

Upon finishing the bottle, you continued to watch the ongoing fight. This time, with only one guy left standing. Be careful— you kept on thinking. Everyone is aware of Mikey’s confidence, yet, you could only wish for his safety and certain victory at this very moment.

He, however, noticed your presence by how you stood out on that car trunk and the way a lamp post shred light to your frame.

“Ooou!” Some members winced once the guy managed to land a punch onto Mikey’s cheek, in which he quickly shrugged off and returned, this time with much greater intensity, sending the guy to the ground.

“Alright, everyone’s dismissed. Scram.” Draken demanded, instantly sending everyone to clear the area, hop on their bikes, then leave.

“You took a pretty hard hit.” You voiced, touching his jaw with your fingertips as you observed the bruising skin.

Mikey quietly awed at your gesture, in which he responded with an “I’m fine.” You nodded before taking out a can of soda from the plastic bag of the convenience store you’d stopped by earlier to buy snacks.

Mikey utters a soft “thank you” before taking you to stand by his bike. “Welcome.” You smiled, leaning against the seat along with him.

“[ Y / N ], you do know that… I will never hurt you, right?” He blurts, holding the cold can against his face.

You then realized where this may be coming from, which you assured him in an instant. “Mikey,” You sighed, turning to face him.

“When you looked at me… you seemed scared.” He added.

“I’m not. I’ve seen you fight like a million times.” You chuckled. “It’s just that… this time, I was extra worried for you.” You abruptly turned away from the blurt of emotion before deciding to get to your point. “... and Kenchin. Because then, he’ll be the one who will treat your injuries.” You joked, lightening up the mood.

“To me, you’re our Mikey.” You spoke, taking away the can from his hand. “Who will do everything in his power to protect the people he cares about.” You smiled, carefully cradling his face in your palms. “So to answer your question… I do know that. Always have.” You reiterated with a gentle smile.

In response, he gently pulls your chin towards him and carefully surrounds his lips with yours as you elevate your head to his and offer your lips.

Slightly smiling against each other’s lips, his eyes flutter shut in response, intoxicated by your effect on him.

“Good night guys, be safe on the way home.” On the other side of the parking lot there stood Mitsuya who was preparing to leave with his motor, waving at Draken and Chifuyu who had sped off to the road.

“Your girlfriend is not here?” He turned to Takemichi who stood still, making sure that everyone had left safely.

“[ Y / N ] said she went home early.” He says.

“Oh, need a ride then?” Mitsuya offered.

“I’m fine, thank you.” He politely declined with a bow before bidding their goodbyes.

“Nakata Wheels Downtown.” Morin read out the signage on top of the building, making sure that this is the place where [ Y / N ] lived.

It had been an hour since she stood on the opposite side of the road, thinking through how to approach her mother’s past self. Suddenly, a motorcycle pulls over at the front just as she was about to cross. “Shit.” She cursed, realizing it was [ Y / N ] and Mikey.

“Good night.” She spoke softly, sending the boy off with a hug before he sped off, then blinking the tail lights three times.

[ Y / N ] stayed outside until the boy came out of sight then she carefully lifted the garage doors, tossing her belongings in a car before getting on it to leave.

“Oh, where are you going?” She spoke to herself, hiding into a blinder spot to avoid being seen.

With a failed attempt to connect to [ Y / N ] she turns away to retreat, deciding to start looking for places to sleep at. “At least I’m sure that’s where she lived.” She sighs, sitting at one of the benches at the park she passes by.

With a heavy sigh, she began to slowly slouch and drift into a deep sleep on the uncomfortable bench, until someone talking on the playgrounds had woken her up.

“Mmmn. Better get back home before mom and dad wake up!” Upon opening her eyes, she sees a pink-haired girl and a blonde boy talking by the slides.

“Hina, um…” The boy sighed, “About that stuff I just said, I mean, the future stuff.” He rambled.

Hina?

“I didn’t hear a thing.” The girl smiled in response.

“Huh?”

“Bye-bye, Takemichi-kun!” She turns to leave, waving the boy goodbye.

“Awright! I got a lotta stuff to get done!” He yells at himself with a pep-talk. “For this time-leap, I know who the enemy is…”

Morin gasped at the mention of his name. Takemichi is [ Y / N ]’s close friend in the future, who could apparently time leap too. Has she finally found someone to approach?

But of course, she thought it would be hilarious to mess up with him first.

As he was continuing to do a monologue, Morin had already sneaked behind, landing a slide kick to his ankles which caused him to fall on his ass on the ground.

“What, who are you?!” The boy yelled, looking up at her with surprise.

“Hello, uncle.” She smiled before stepping on his feet to keep him in place.

“Who?” He asks in confusion.

“You know, I genuinely thought—” She was about to answer until someone had dragged her shirt from the back, “Wait, what—” Upon facing the person, Hina was back with an angered expression, making sure to land a slap on Morin’s cheek the moment she turned to her.

“Who are you?” She asks.

“Why’d you do that? And yea, who are you even?” Takemichi winced, getting up from the ground.

“Sano.”

“Eh? Sano?” He asked in surprise.

“Morin [ L / N ]-Sano.”

“D&D motors” Read on the shop [ Y / N ] went off to collect her car that had been damaged and repaired.

“He looks good as new.” Seishu says, tossing the car keys to [ Y / N ].

“He does, thank you.” She agreed, fingers brushing over to the once damaged door which was now brand-new quality. “Welcome back, baby.” She muttered.

Inui was counting the cash she had paid him when her phone started to ring, “[ Y / N ]– desu.” She answers upon seeing Hina’s name on the screen.

“Hey, are you home yet?” The girl on the other line spoke.

“No, I’m on my way to Yokohama.” [ Y / N ] answered.

“Huh? This late?”

“Racing stuff. Are you home?” She asks, changing the matters in an instant.

“Yeah. Takemichi-kun just dropped me off.”

“That’s great, good night Hina-chan.” She nodded.

“Good night, [ Y / N ]-chan!”

“Try not to answer the phone while you’re driving this time.” Seishu noted, folding up a greased towel in his hands.

“Too soon.” [ Y / N ] turns to him with a straight face. “Still giving you a tip though. Thanks.” But she smiles in an instant, slipping a 500-yen bill in his work shirt pocket before getting in the car to leave for Yokohama.

“[ Y / N ] is sneaking off somewhere. We can’t take you to her.” Hina spoke upon ending the call.

“Of course you can’t!” Morin scoffed. “What’s your plan? Drop me off at her place like— ‘Hey! It’s me! Oh, who’s this? It’s your child. Gotta go’!” She narrated.

“I don’t understand…” With brows tense, and deep into thoughts, Takemichi spoke out. “You weren’t even born yet when I time leaped.” He mentioned, having recalled that [ Y / N ] just found out she was pregnant at the hospital in the future.

“Seems like I’m from far ahead than where you were from.” Morin added.

“Are you sure you’re not another half-sibling or something?” Takemichi scratched his head. Morin sighed in response, taking out a folded up photo from her pocket.

“This is what dad looked like in the future, right?” She asks, showing a photo of an adult Mikey and [ Y / N ] on a beach. She had snuck this from when they were packing things, meaning to keep it in an album before she miraculously went back in time.

“He’s gone and it was just me and mom.” She added.

“Seems that we have the same abilities but you are physically here.” Takemichi pointed out. “Fascinating.” He added.

“What do you mean?”

“I can only time leap twelve years into the past, then back to the future. However, only my consciousness ‘travels’. I’m basically the grown up ‘me’ in my high school self.” He explained. “You weren’t even alive this time. You’re really here. The future [ Y / N ] must be wondering where you are.”

“That is so cool.” She replied. “But, you're right. So, what do we do?” Morin asks.

“Go back. Who’s your trigger?” He asks.

“...what?”

“Listen, what I’m doing here can get dangerous. I… I died in the future I just came from.” He explained, muttering the last part loud enough only for her to hear.

“Damn.” She sighed heavily.

“The [ Y / N ] I know in the future has been hurt enough already, please just come back to her before anything happens to you. She can’t lose both you and Mikey-lun.” He stressed.

“You’re here because you want to get her back, right?” Morin hinted. “Well, I’m here to be with them. I’m not going back until I’m sure mom and dad end up together.” She confided.

“Tsk.” Takemichi sighed, burying his head in his palms.

“Are we gonna do this or what?” The girl questioned.

“You really are their kid.” He sighed in response.

“Eh?”

“You’re brave. Like Mikey-kun and [ Y / N ].” He vouched. “Fine, we’re going to talk tomorrow. For now, do you have anywhere to stay?”

“No. I’ve been sleeping on trains since I got here.” Morin answered.

“You can stay at our home.” Hina insisted. “Will your folks be okay with that?” She asks. “ I’ll just tell them you’re sleeping over because your parents aren’t home.” Hina says. “That works.” The other girl agreed.

“Alright, let’s get going, then.” Takemichi stood from the slide, following the girls as they walked ahead.

“So, that’s how the slap felt.” Morin says, feeling her cheek.

“Hm?” Hina turns to her.

“Mom said you slapped dad in the face one time.” She replied.

“Eh, yes…” Hina chuckled tensely, “Anyways, I’m really sorry about that.” She added.

“No worries.” Morin laughed.

“I still can’t believe it, you really are Mikey-kun and [ Y / N ]’s kid.” Takemichi mentioned it upon listening to their conversation.

“She has Mikey-kun’s hair too.” Hina pointed out.

“For the record, this is really weird to me too.” Morin turns to face him with a laugh. He got shivers just by looking at her due to how startlingly similar her expressions were to those of her father.

“Wait until you meet them, I guess.”

tag list [ open ]: @haimyvu @rizakari @httpsplanetmarsdotcom @mitsurisupremacy @moontofu @psmslove @slutaholic69 @im-like-yeah-hes-fine @keomi-kimo @springtimewolf1995 @bebesanzu @imshittingforyelena @dailyakira @idunnomynamesince2005 @juanaisdead @emilymikado @haruu-i @keisaint @misinfe @fxshigurosbae @xxserenitysnow666xx @emyrl @xngelsau @melody005 @daichisbabymama @4leafcloverwithawhitecraneforyou @r-xochitl @sleezy-axeriix @pandabooster @amerillyss @tellynojelly @kenkenmaaa @astrodiamond @ikilledsparky2 @soushswag @eriskaitto @awkwardaardvarkforever

#if/then #tokyo revengers #manjiro sano #mikey x reader #manjiro x reader #manjiro sano x reader #mikey sano x reader #mikey imagines

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pokemongoloresociety · 1 year

Text

This Reeks Of...

I read the Hoenn quest leaks, and had some thoughts! Feel free to share you own with me by tagging this tumblr or quoting. Spoilers ahead!

I'm going to try my best to keep my perspectives and speculations surface-level. Yes, there is a lot here; but having a year between story updates gives you too much time to think.

GO Rocket Leaders In General:

I genuinely feel sorry for them. I've always felt sorry for them, and I've always thought the three of them were in a boiling frog situation given the brand of Giovanni they're working under. These lines cement those feelings. If anything, they're worse off than I thought and are extremely vulnerable but talented people brimming with potential under the right form of guidance.

All of them are riding on a facade of confidence in various flavors. It's an interesting take on its own. They're acting like how they think they should act while how they genuinely feel still comes through. This might be one of those 'fake it til you make it' tales, which would be cool, if not a little meta.

The theme of the three of them running away from themselves becomes more obvious. We saw the GO Leaders overcome their weaknesses; we're witnessing little fragments of the GO Rocket leaders being consumed by them.

Cliff cites Arlo and gives him proper credit for where his knowledge comes from. Sierra doesn't care much, but she does take credit for telling you the info. Arlo uses it as a moment to dunk on Candela AND Willow. (I might have to make an entire post just unpacking Arlo's details alone.)

Arlo and Cliff start out aggressive, with Cliff becoming more personable and Arlo going a bit more resistant. Not entirely tsundere, as he's still very resistant and insistent on keeping a status quo. Despite being appointed leaders (or at least execs/admins), you see parts that would turn potential followers away.

I'm appreciating the level of psychology and nuance they're introducing in such a simple format, and exploring the aspects of what being a leader can take. Self-care, self-forgiveness, and facing your shortcomings are pillars. If I had to say: Cliff lacks self-care (all his care is on Giovanni); Sierra lacks self-forgiveness, and Arlo lacks the courage to face his fears.

I'm also appreciating the fact that all six of them are embodiments of certain core traits, mirroring the positive and negative sides of them. The GO Rocket leaders show a new potential: that their negative sides aren't something they need to overcome, but to utilize in a better light. Pokemon has always shown us that the world is more complicated than good vs bad; that "good" fairy types can be some of the most dangerous; and that scarier types like dark (called "evil" in Japan) and ghost can be misunderstood saviors.

Based on these details, I will write another post later on exploring how each Rocket Leader could potentially contribute to the GO Leaders, and vice-versa.

Cliff:

Cliff's backstory as a rancher fills my prior suspicions about him relying on calculation. Running farms and ranches takes a lot of work and cannot be done alone; not only do you have books to balance and resources to juggle, but you have to develop extra senses for your animals (or, in this case, Pokemon) and the seasons. I wonder what made him lose it?

Combined with the prior themes of abandonment, I'd suspect that some parts of Cliff's demeanor is what pushed people away. You can't run a ranch by yourself, and we see it decaying in his intro video. You can see how he'd be a great and encouraging leader, and he presents his wisdom in a way that's easy to follow. But, there are cracks in his line of thought and personality.

What stood out to me was how he thought Willow was your leader, and was surprised to hear otherwise. Even with all the time that's passed, Cliff has holed himself into a line of thought. Even Arlo presents himself as being observant enough to refer to Willow properly.

I'm now under the impression that Cliff may not be as well-liked as I thought in GOR. I've known people like Cliff. Very loyal, but this loyalty is steeped in sadness, fear, and insecurity. He's happy to be around the grunts and play with them, like when they invaded the 2020 festival and he was eager to get back to hanging out with them after beating you up. But, you also see in his intro where he's losing his absolute shit at the grunts sitting around; presumably without even asking what they were doing (for all we know, they could have been on a break or avoiding overexerting themselves). While most of the grunts love Giovanni, Cliff has made Giovanni into his religion.

Sierra:

Sierra gave me whiplash. When you beat her normally, she assures you that it's not going to happen again. In this text, she's more obviously self-deprecating. I would not be surprised if she blamed herself for all of her loss and situations; like her own Absol (And misappropriated to misery, just like an Absol).

For context to #1, I'm still not sure if she was just an orphan; or if she was an orphan who ALSO lost her own husband and child when she got the chance to start her own family, which would add another layer to her reclusive nature and lone lioness motif. The intro shows two sets of images and it's easy to interpret it as two different bad outcomes. Her being in charge of the Rocket eggs says a lot about her hidden nature as it is. She definitely wants a family or a place to belong to, but she keeps telling herself otherwise.

She acknowledges loss as a lesson, but she also still treats it like something that could warrant punishment. I get the impression that her fear of failure isn't an ego thing, but acknowledging the price of her security. If she fucks up too much, she may lose the last sanctuary that she's known under Giovanni. It needed to be noted that this Giovanni comes off as less forgiving and on par with the Rainbow Rocket version than the one defeated by Red.

This brings me back to her same-differences with Spark. Both are willing to take their chances, but Spark is ready to gamble. His lapel pins are a pair of die that, together, make "88", a good luck symbol. If one could assume that both she and Spark had the exact same experiences up to a point, Spark took his losses as lessons, and learned to trust his instincts in order to take those gambles. It's as if he says: "I've been through worse, I can take it because the prize at the end might be worth it!" Sierra took them as punishments, and she's afraid of losing her safety net.

I think it hits me harder because she's witty. It's rare you see a female character who's both hot AND funny, and is clearly in on the joke if she isn't the one who's leading it. It makes me want to see her have a happy ending. Definitely Bayonetta and Fujiko Mine energy.

Arlo (Holy shit, this guy is baggage incarnate despite having the least revealed backstory how is that even possib):

Starts out aggressive like Cliff. He does become more tsundere, but it needs to be noted that his level of resistance towards receiving any affability is beyond the moe trope. I found it unsettling and well-written.

He's more focused on resisting his feelings, unless they involve his play for power.

He has absolutely no love for Giovanni. I can't recall a Pokemon character like this who's worked for Rocket. I've seen admins show greed and cynicism to some things, but they've largely been respectful to Giovanni (or at least pretended to be). Arlo does nothing of the such, and even corrects himself to imply that the glory will be his, and not Team Rocket's.

I'll admit; it is interesting to see Rocket being used as a tool from within. If Arlo had his shit together, he could be one of the few named Poke G-Men (Could he still be?) Candela said Arlo didn't even like Team Rocket, and he still doesn't, even after all of this. I had a headcanon that Arlo is a double agent. And he's... still kind of is. At least for himself.

He's reminding me more and more of Lear from Pokemon Masters before his character evolution. I'm pretty sure Lear was inspired by Arlo, likely a mashup of both Candela and Arlo. Lear and Arlo are both nobles, and it's safe to assume, considering the things Arlo has said, that they were expected to play into a harsh game of life, and that any kind of softness/sweetness was seen as weakness. Both of them go pants-on-head crazy when they get a blow to their ego and do something big. Though, I'd say Pasio is a somewhat more positive thing (the ethics of making an artificial island aside) than, uh, what's involved in making Shadow Pokemon and being a dimensional/space terrorist.

Arlo cannot proverbially get off of Candela. The fact that he's actually an engaging orator and capable of having some clarity on a situation makes his obsession with her more jarring. Even though it's just some quest text, I could tell he could be a good teacher. He has the underpinnings of some of the most well-loved rivals in the franchise. He's also very much a mad scientist.

Even with Arlo's insanity, it's hard NOT to feel bad for him. His shit goes way deeper than just BAWW CANDELA MEEN uWu; We need to remember that he's still an adult carrying on like this with a lot of power, battle skill, and authority (rather the facade of it) in his hands. There's a lot to unpack here. I'll dig more into that in the future.

Because of this, Candela is Arlo's strawman. Flowing with the theme of the GOR leaders running away from themselves, it's easier for him to blame her than it is for him to look deeper within and fix himself or question his presumed upbringing or personal beliefs. If I had to guess, this is likely a factor as to why Candela was crying when she gave Willow her part of the Mysterious Scraps to Willow one week later. There is no sane reason to go as far as Arlo did to get revenge against one person for merely 'beating' him. It's bad enough that he was, presumably, gunning to become Valor leader. But I think it goes beyond that. People who act like Arlo have a hard-set narrative in their heads, and lose it when people don't play to their fantasy. This actually reminds me of some of Giovanni and how he seems to surround himself with the competent, but insecure, so that he can control his little world. He's just blunt about it.

With the new dialogue, the fact that his uniform resembles a fireman's outfit and his intro quote: "Remember, fire is a fickle thing. When controlled, it provides warmth, but in the wrong hands, it burns." enforces that Arlo is afraid of enduring pain in order to become stronger, as well as unable to comprehend that some elements must be embraced as they are, and not tamed. It also (and likely mostly) shows that Arlo goes into unknown situations with the expectation that trust won't be granted, so he has to shield himself. This makes more sense when we understand that many Pokemon, especially fire types, will work hard to avoid hurting the humans they come to love in trust. He's trying to compete against someone who's been shown to hug the soul-eating Litwick. I'm beginning to assume Arlo didn't become a leader because he wasn't ready to endure and only wanted to aggressively dominate. The catch is that Candela's or (presumably) Moltres' fires weren't his fear, but his own inner flame that's dying to thrive.

Pretty crazy for Giovanni to run an entire campaign presumably spearheaded by the grudge of your newest member and admin who is only loyal to his own reflection and his personal vendetta; isn't it? Gio really is a devil-figure. He knows what he's doing and he doesn't care. I am under the impression that Gio's plan is to take everything once Arlo has failed.

So, what DOES this reek of?

A redemption plot! No idea if I'm right. I guess we'll see! But, I've heard this story too many times from too many different angles not to see the potential makings of one. I expect at least one of them to pull a 180, if not all three.

What would it take for these three to leave Rocket?

Cliff and Sierra would have to get the boot from Giovanni to leave Team GO Rocket. This would be a devastating blow to both of them, as they've found refuge within Team Rocket.

I imagine Cliff would be the only one who really begs to come back, while Sierra would blame herself, try to move on, and likely become more isolated.

Of the three, Arlo might be the one in the most danger and may not simply be sacked; he may even use the chance to usurp Giovanni. He's sly and manipulative; so is Giovanni. I came to suspect that the target of Arlo's manipulations might be Giovanni, and it looks as if that's the possibility. I do think Giovanni may be one step ahead of Arlo; well-aware that they're both using one another, and milking Arlo of his knowledge and insight until it becomes too inconvenient to play into his shenanigans.

I'll add that it seems as if I may have bias towards Arlo and Candela, but they've had the most loaded story in GO that shows a lot and still has its own mysteries behind it. Arlo also feels more like the game's antagonist than Giovanni does, at times.

I'll follow up in the future with my thoughts regarding how each pair of foils balance off of one another.

#pokemon go #spoilers #giovanni pokemon #leader arlo #leader cliff #leader sierra #team go rocket #hoenn tour

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sleepynegress · 1 year

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If you finish the Kindred series, I would be interested in hearing your thoughts. I have finished the first 5 episodes and am massively disappointed so far. It doesn't seem to do the novel justice. I wanted to get more of the perspective of the enslaved people and Dana's introspection. I didn't mind the modern setting, but I didn't like that Kevin and Dana were no longer a married couple with shared intimacy and history. I recall a scene from the novel where Kevin says something along the lines of the conditions of the enslaved people not seeming as bad as he would have imagined and the ensuing tension that caused between the two. It seems like Octavia Butler's fantastic material has gone to waste. I can only hope future adaptations of her work are better.

It really felt like the producer set out to translate or make the material more understandable/digestable to a viewing audience, which came off to me as dumbing it down...(which is always a mistake, or the reason why animated movies for kids written to grow w/ you instead of being written down "to kids" end up being classics) Because that's literally what he did... And now, the logic, which was so tight in the novel (Butler was notorious in keeping the plot tight) suffers in the series. Now... It gets spoiler-filled and yelly... apologies, ahead of time. The connection/audience investment the producer sought, was already there in the growth & connections of the characters, right along w/ the readers being in Dana's gaze in her empathy and helplessness in trying to help people in a futile and spectacularly soul-destroying system (HOW DID THE PRODUCER NOT GET THAT?!). The fact that the centered characters Dana interacts w/ most, start out as children and we watch them grow to adults; shift and get shaped in that hellscape of systemic slavery IS THE DAMN HOOK!! The characters (Rufus, Alice, Nigel, Sarah...and even Kevin being there so long....) is all he needed and that's where his focus should have been.

Instead he tried to answer questions nobody asked and ended up creating more questions...i.e. He tried to explain the time travel with some kind of generational power by adding Dana's mom to the plantation. But that doesn't make sense because you're telling me Dana's mom never felt her life threatened ON A SOUTHERN PLANTATION for over ten years... You're also telling me she materialized there SLAVE PASS-LESS and somehow ended up being free...itsjustnotrealistic.gif!!! Kevin and she just had a vague connection via ride home/Tinder hook-up in this Hulu iteration, and you mean to tell me he stuck around through all the weird yelling and dematerialization?!! THERE IS A REASON why Butler had them married and that investment being believable is a big one!!! I mean, sure whiteness lends a kind of reckless curiousity but NOT THAT MUCH, DAMN!

Now that the producer added the complication of the mom going forward in time after touching her BUT ENDING UP SOMEWHERE ELSE (a thing that really happens in this show lolwtf?!), that big life-changing ending for Dana, won't make sense. All of the connections w/ the enslaved characters don't feel substantial enough, because this man wanted to spend time *fixing* the fucking time mechanics instead...Nobody cares why the zombies are zombies in Night of the Living Dead!! They care about the characters, their connections, and how they survived or didn't.

Also! Kevin not being a history teacher made them more bumbling than believable to other characters in that space, and his lack of anything beyond that tentative first surface connection to Dana makes him being left less tragic and investable... and how Dana acts toward him REALLY STUPID in that era!!

*sigh* That said...I thought the casting, effects, and that spare synth track was okay.... The writing and plotting/direction just sloppified, what Octavia Butler made *incredibly* tight. It should have been a limited series focused *hard* on watching these characters change and devolve because of the system they existed in. Not a mystery about why this family has time travel powers. The producer really couldn't see the forest for the trees. I'm just... How did he mess this up?? It was so easy to get this right, if he actually liked the fucking novel. *smh*

#I am disappointed #kindred #octavia butler #meta #review #kindredfx #fxkindred #hulu #it hurts they really got someone who thought butler's writting needed improvement

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magicofthepen · 2 years

Text

War Room 1 Thoughts

My first listen, immediate reactions and emotions and ramblings below the cut. (There are. a lot of ramblings.) Spoiler free summary is that I enjoyed the boxset overall—I really liked a majority of the episodes, and I loved two of them. And even the one I was meh about, I didn’t dislike, it just felt like the weak link of the boxset.

THE LAST DAYS OF FREME

I listened to the preview the other day, so see this post for my initial thoughts on the first 15 minutes.

(….and whoops I have more thoughts on the first 15 minutes.)

I love how Leela is resisting the Time Lords in such a visceral, physical way at the beginning. While she isn’t as fearless as she wants them to believe, she’s far more willing to fight back when it’s her own life (or well-being) being threatened. And she has been through so much, it feels like it’s all coming out in one drawn out scream as the Time Lords try to control her.

But then: I do think Rassilon invoking Romana (even if he’s claiming she’s dead) is a way to subtextually dangle her over Leela’s head.

I do like quite like the new theme! The mood of it is so different from Time War despite not sounding that dramatically different (if that makes sense??)—but the energy it has feels right for this boxset. Time War was a plunge further and further into despair, and at last there are glimmers of hope. (….whether that hope will last is another question though.)

“Do I have a choice?” god this line is so raw. Leela’s choices have been taken away from her so much.

Lou Morgan Gets Leela so well, please let her keep writing Gallifrey. (This is going to be a running theme here.) Anger is her default way of dealing with grief, she’s drowning in grief and rage throughout the story, it’s so devastatingly good.

I thought it was in shame in Time War 4 that Richard Armitage’s Rassilon spent most of the time monologuing—I’m glad a main character gets to properly interact with him here. I’m even more glad about the amount of times Leela threatens to kill him. Extremely in character. I would have been disappointed if that didn’t happen.

And there’s a “coming full circle” horror with Leela and Rassilon. He violated Leela’s autonomy the first time they met by shoving himself into her mind and possessing her. And now he’s violating her autonomy again, dehumanizing her and trying to make her a tool of the Time Lords, having a literal collar placed around her neck to restrict what she can do.

“You are a ghost.” The Matrix projection of Ollistra’s earlier incarnation is a bit reminiscent of Pandora—a ghost from the Matrix rising again in a body that should be gone. That parallel makes Leela’s horror at Ollistra’s nature make even more sense.

“since Romana’s imprisonment in the Vault dimension” The General does know what really happened to Romana. Interesting, since Rassilon speaks as though she’d dead, in public and in private.

“She is a blunt instrument. A tool. Nothing more complicated than that.” oh this episode is going hard on Leela being dehumanized.

In Time War 2, it took until Episode 3 to have the Time Lords wipe out a planet, and that was the worst thing they’d done, an inconceivable atrocity. And now that’s the baseline. That’s what they’re starting Leela out with. It really drives home how much worse the War has gotten, how the Time Lords don’t blink at atrocities, and I love that this boxset didn’t shy away from going there immediately.

“Would the Oubliette not be more practical?” Confirmation that it’s officially returned. Although it’s odd that they assume the Daleks will know if they Oubliette the planet, but not if they destroy it through other means?

The General shows flickers of compassion to Leela, but also clearly has Rassilon’s ear. He’s a fascinating character—he comes off a sympathetic in comparison to other Time Lords because he’s kinder on a personal level, but in this episode he actively tries to persuade Leela to commit genocide. There’s a different kind of horror in the soldier who is squeamish about torturing one person who he knows, but justifies murdering billions as a necessity.

“One hundred microspans” oh the audios are back to using microspans, are they?

“Home. Some of us have no home left to return to.” I realize this was absolutely not meant as a Unity reference, but there are no Unity references, so I have to selectively interpret things where I can. Anyways, friendly reminder that the home Leela had built and found peace in for almost two decades was still only recently blown up, and her family lost to her in different ways.

I love Leela’s malicious compliance with Time Lord orders. Exactly the energy I was hoping for!!

The General is displaying typical Gallifreyan supremacist attitudes when he’s talking and an absolute willingness to follow orders in this first episode. He’s wriggling around his orders by the end of the boxset, and obviously by the time of the TV show he’s ready to defy Rassilon. But he still has a dangerous and terrible loyalty to Gallifrey.

“She doesn’t appear to be a savage.” Leela encounters one (1) person who views her as a person.

Ohhh the themes of grief—the meeting hall is the memorial hall, the walls are built to honor the dead.

“But you leave them behind.” This sounds like an accusation, but I read it differently knowing that Leela has, not so long ago, left her own dead behind when Veega died on Unity. (You didn’t ask for me to keep bringing everything back to Unity, but I’m afraid this is what you’re going to get with me.) And then she left Narvin behind—to die, as far as she knows. So I wonder how much of this comment is an accusation against herself, a desire for someone to justify it, to tell her that leaving the dead behind isn’t dishonoring them.

“Come, eat.” I’m sorry, I burst out laughing here….I’ve joked before about how Lou Morgan has a running theme of side characters making sure the main characters are fed and rested in her episodes (Nevernor and Dissolution), and although Leela didn’t get a proper rest in this one, she still got a brief respite from Time Lord control, and a side character insisting that she eat. Incredible. I hope the streak continues. 😄

Why doesn’t Leela try to warn the Fremians as soon as possible? Is it just fear of what the Time Lords will do to her? Is she biding her time to see if she can come up with a plan?

Veklin wants to go back for Leela and not leave her to die, but she would destroy a whole world — a terrible subjective morality.

goddd I love how this episode is in dialogue with Collateral. The plot is so reminiscent of Collateral: Time Lords about to destroy a planet, the people of the world braced to evacuate (for one reason or another), and our main character(s) trying desperately to save people. This episode is an echo and an answer to the despair of Time War 2, a chance to put Leela in the same situation Romana and Narvin were in (sort of), and a chance to write a different ending, and I love it.

Leela keeps asking questions and testing Argatro’s willingness to trust her. It’s like she’s trying to verify that he does see her as a person, and like she’s testing herself to see that if her honor and morality are still intact. The questions are for herself too: is she worthy of his trust?

The scene where Leela knows exactly how to push Veklin’s buttons and get her to back off—mmm that’s such an interesting character moment. Leela using words as a weapon, manipulating a Time Lord right back.

If the Fremians at this point in time don’t know about the Time War, I’m not quite sure why they recognize a battle TARDIS and Time Lord armor, but I’m not going to question it too much.

Three of these stories are about “third option” answers (although only two succeed). And I am !!!!!!! at this running theme—it feels like a natural follow up to the Time War boxsets, which built a literal third option in the form of the Resistance. And now these stories are asking: how do you find a third option when you’re inside the belly of the beast, when you’re being squeezed by the system? Where is the way out? (Yes, there’s a way out.)

But even when there’s another way, there’s still a cost, and this story doesn’t shy away from that. Leela finds a way to save all the people, but the cost is asking a Fremian to destroy his own heritage, to blow up the land of his people, so it can’t be used against his descendants. That is a devastating thing to ask of someone.

And specifically, the solution being to destroy the hostage is…..Something. Leela asks Argatro to destroy something so important to him so it can’t be used as leverage to push people into committing atrocities (siding with the Daleks). This is at the same time as Romana is being used as leverage against Leela to try to push her to commit atrocities (on behalf of the Time Lords). If someone asked her to destroy her hostage for the greater good, so she could be free from leverage, could she have done it?

“You do not lose her. You bury her. With honor.” Blowing up their home as a burial of the dead…..I am yelling inside about @sircarolyn’s post about Leela blowing up her home on Unity.

oh my god Leela pretending that it’s the trigger for the bomb. “She was testing herself.” enduring the pain of the shock collar, choosing it on her own terms, to save a world. absolute chills.

The background music in that big ending scene….absolutely losing it, it’s so good!!

“Your precious Romana is gone.” This is an overall boxset thought, but after Time War 3 when I thought Romana might truly have been written out, I wanted a Time War 4 that explored her legacy even after she was gone. But this is the boxset that does that.

Romana tried to prove in Partisans that there were ways to defeat the Daleks that didn’t involve mass violence, and she failed. Romana tried to save Ysalus in Collateral, and she failed. In the Time War audios (the arc of Time War 2 and 3 in particular), she lost her faith in herself. She blamed herself. She stopped believing her vision for another way could be achieved.

Leela finds that way. She achieves the objective of thwarting the Daleks without destroying a planet—and gets the Time Lords around her on board with the plan, too. She builds an alliance. Not only is Leela still fighting for Romana—she picks up that faith and vision that Romana lost.

That vision of other ways to defeat the Daleks, of building alliances rather than slaughtering billions: it lives on.

Once again, I love how Lou Morgan writes Leela in this episode. She’s angry and passionate and grieving and clever and kind. She resists, she builds new connections, she single-handedly stops the Time Lords from blowing up a world while working for the Time Lords. Lou Morgan lets her be her full brilliant self and feel all the pain of what she’s going through—a fantastic episode. I’ve liked Lou Morgan’s other Gallifrey episodes, but I think this is her best yet. And the best Leela story that Gallifrey has had in a long well. I might go as far as to say call it the best Leela story in all of Gallifrey.

THE PASSENGER

Gonna say up front: this was my least favorite episode of the boxset. It’s not really exploring the same themes as the other stories, so it feels out of place, and there isn’t any particularly interesting character work—Leela especially is quite sidelined. A disappointment after such a strong opening for the boxset.

(Not as bad as David Llewellyn’s episode in Time War 4; I wasn’t actively annoyed with this episode. But not as good as his Time War 3 episodes—the second of which was all interesting character work.)

In the Last Days of Freme, Leela’s lack of autonomy was so horrifying, so her not having the collar in this episode is quite a deflation of stakes. To be clear, it definitely makes sense that the General wouldn’t keep the collar around after Leela showed in episode 1 that she was able to endure the pain (and he didn’t like using it anyways). I don’t know how an episode that followed that opening wouldn’t feel less dramatic, and maybe the boxset needed to go smaller so it could build back up again? But still, all of the episodes are more dramatic and more horrifying—the stakes and/or the emotions are bigger.

It’s interesting that the General had enough professional autonomy to take off Leela’s collar, when in the previous episode he was highly concerned about following Ollistra’s orders and staying in her good graces.

“My name is Leela. I am with Gallifrey.” I’m so used to hearing Leela introduce herself as a “warrior of the Sevateem” that oof, this hurt. How must it feel to have to change even a simple introductory statement to suit the Time Lords?

It’s not clear what Leela’s long-term plan is, now that she’s been given more freedom. She’s going along with a lot of things—and we know that she wants to get Romana out—but we don’t know if she’s actively trying to pursue that goal. But I get that it would be tricky to establish Leela’s goals and endgame when this is an audio medium, and she doesn’t have anyone around her that she can trust to talk about her true plans to.

So Leela’s working with other Time Lords in Epsilon squadron—and she goes in on some sort of ship. Have they given her the ability to fly a TARDIS? How would that work? Is it another kind of ship that she’s flying?

Shades of the Devil You Know in this story—Leela working alongside dangerous Time Lords, trying to get information out of someone with a fractured memory. I was hoping it would be in dialogue with that episode like how The Last Days of Freme was a follow-up to Collateral, but Leela wasn’t central enough in this episode for that to be the case, alas.

Do appreciate the General calling out xenophobic microaggressions, but it’s a change of tone from the first episode? Is it just Leela that he respects?

I was taking notes as I went along, and one of them says “this guy recovers his memory very all of a sudden,” which. pretty suspicious yeah.

I don’t like that they chose to deviate away from Leela for episode 2 to spend more time with the War Room side characters. This is her boxset, and the character work for her started off so strong.

“I have seen so much, but it feels right that I am here.” — That seems out of character for Leela to say, she’s not happy to be on Gallifrey.

I’m sorry but it was so obvious that the weapon was going to blow up. Kelgoth’s voice when he’s walking Vibax through “defusing” it had the exact same tone as the main characters did in Renaissance when they were talking to the ambassador in the ship that was already dead. “Keep going, you’re doing great, nothing is about to go wrong, you are not about to blow up and die, nope, totally not.”

Considering Trave was executed in public for the murder of one Time Lord, I assumed Kelgoth would automatically be sentenced to death (although ooh Shada reference!).

Rasmus is trying to manipulate Leela by invoking the Doctor, but she is not having it.

Fascinating that Rassilon isn’t the involved in this case really—Rasmus has a lot of power to urge transparency via the second interrogation (even though Rassilon might not want that transparency? but we don’t really know what Rassilon would want, he’s very out of the loop).

Kelgoth is so enraged about the deaths of Time Lords at the hands of Time Lords, but I wonder if he’d feel the same about the Time Lords killing two thousand aliens. He does a terrible thing to prove that lives have value, but it’s always about Time Lord lives.

Leela: yes the Time Lords are bad, but you still blew up a bunch of people. I can condemn everyone for what they’ve done, actually

“Many years ago you might not have left this room alive.” I wonder when in her life she’s specifically thinking about—when does she think she would have been more willing to kill? Where is her mercy coming from now? Is it from the control the War Room holds over her? Or is she just so tired of bloodshed?

Again, interesting that Ollistra slash Rasmus get to make the decision about punishment, when for a crime this dramatic, you’d expect Rassilon to be involved. At least they justify why Kelgoth wouldn’t be publicly executed by talking about not wanting the truth to get out.

“What Rassilon does not know cannot anger him.” As someone who’s lived through the Trump administration, “advisors treading carefully around the President to prevent him from getting angry and doing something dramatic/impulsive” feels a touch too politically relevant, oof.

Chameleon arch as punishment, that’s an interesting concept—since usually we’ve seen Time Lords use a chameleon arch deliberately, consensually. And it’s alarming how the General intends for it to be worse than death—becoming human and losing all you are as torture. (Velkin and Ollistra defy him of course, which is brutal in a different way. None of them are lenient.)

And ooh is that a new thing, that by erasing something in the Matrix, it erases that information from everyone’s mind? Something else on the list of terrible, creative sci-fi punishments.

COLLATERAL VICTIM

This is extremely petty but: this is the one truly disappointing title of the bunch. “The Last Days of Freme” and “The First Days of Phaidon” are distinctive! Memorable! “The Passenger” less so, but still distinguishable from other Gallifrey audios, so points for that. But now we have a Gallifrey audio called Collateral and an audio called Collateral Victim. That is up there with the “endless nouns that end in -ion” problem.

I do like the chaos of the cold open—the dynamic between the characters (completely bewildered and a bit out of it vs. serious and intense), the “what???” aspect of “oh the galaxy is being ripped apart, let me take time to explain why.”

Is it a previously canon thing that the Time Lords are the ones to decide which points are fixed? Because fixed points being a choice of the Time Lords, a way they control history, is 👀

oh my god. the scale of fucked up that the Time Lords are at. destroying a whole galaxy, that’s an incomprehensible crime. (although someone says the word “millions” which is simply not the scale we’re talking about here. add a loooot more zeros to that number.)

Love the misremembering, the small details that shift around them as they speak. I do love a “this isn’t how it happened” kind of story, an exploration of memory. And this goes deeper in a really interesting way—the idea that memory is reality, remembering something decides what’s true.

“an hour” oh we’re not doing spans and microspans in this episode then

“You listen as well.” (my note as I was listening was: no Leela don’t fall for flattery, I don’t trust Rasmus)

Ambushing from the past—love how this episode goes “yes this is a Time War, yes we’re going to show that.”

“I haven’t been yours for quite some time.” This reveal!! I’d been lukewarm about the episode until this point, but this is where it got me. The concepts in this story are so fascinating (I know I keep using that word…..)—a TARDIS gaining sentience and rebelling against the Time Lord, “bigger on the inside” stretched to its extreme…..this story definitely pulled me in in the latter half.

“They think they’re the smartest beings in all creation, but they’re the last to work it out.” Love the TARDIS/human solidarity here—and love that Leela got it before the others did.

Love how the earlier comment about “we can’t travel without our time ships” clicks once you Know—they aren’t traveling without a ship! The ship has been with them all along! And the concept of a rebel TARDIS is So Good.

Super unclear how the Oubliette is being used to change history and not just erase things, but I am willing to handwave things bc I love the ideas this story is playing with. The planet is the chameleon circuit at work! The planet is the TARDIS! The TARDIS is trying to hold and save as much as it can, but the strain is too much.

“We hide the universe from the Daleks.” — This is so similar to what the ultimate answer to end the Time War is going to be—hiding Gallifrey, the Doctors using their TARDISes to save Gallifrey, just in a different way.

Again, I love this theme of exploring “third options”—showing that they don’t have to resign themselves to only destruction and cruelty, but also not shying away from the costs of those third options (in this case, it wouldn’t have logistically worked, but even if it had—the TARDIS and Time Lords would have been given a terrible amount of power to manipulate the timelines).

Okay! That was a murder! Damn, Veklin.

“We have to get to the end.” “Why?” “Because we’re going to change it.” Such a powerful line, and devastating when you know how the story ends.

An Arc TARDIS—a parallel to the first episode. An arc to save a people, a world, is now “what if we built an arc to save the universe?”

Leela is clutching so hard at the possibility of peace. She has lived at war for so long.

(The TARDIS is twisting motivations and thoughts, but I assume that only happens when we specifically see the TARDIS rewrite something. In other words: I assume Leela’s advocacy for the Arc TARDIS is her own.)

Rasmus lied about peace, and Leela’s hope for an ally falls apart. (But since she has no one, I get why she’d be really vulnerably to that hope.)

“It simply isn’t practical.” “It is possible. And it is right.” !!!!!!!!!

god he literally had to shoot her to stop her. I’m so glad we’re seeing Leela resist the Time Lords in so many different ways—she’s not always successful, but she tries.

That last scene is heartbreaking oh my god. The begging, the slow motion horror of it. The destruction can’t be stopped; they were dead from the beginning. Ephra’s desperation hurt, but when she gives in, when she accepts that they’re not surviving…..god I teared up. “I’d never have been born without you.” The idea that the TARDIS couldn’t save them, not forever, but that the time the TARDIS gave them still mattered—Ephra’s going to die, but she also got to live—goddd this scene.

THE FIRST DAYS OF PHAIDON

I’m gonna be honest, my notes for this episode gradually devolve into just quoting bits of the episode and yelling. There will be emojis.

Immediately yelling at the Eris mention!! I was sad that he wasn’t going to be this boxset, but I’m so glad that they still included him somehow. Really hope he shows up again later, he’s one of the Gallifrey side characters I’m very attached to. And I want so much more of Resistance!Narvin and Co.

Once again, despite this being a new era of Gallifrey, it’s so bound up in the Time War boxsets, and I’m really glad about that! Really interesting that here they chose to circle back to the very beginning of the War by bringing back Phaidon—and directly mirror Celestial Intervention, with the Phaidonians asking for help from Gallifrey. But the scale of the War and the Time Lord atrocities are so much worse than anything that had been conceived when Phaidon was destroyed. Like. Livia was still president then. Romana, Leela, and Narvin got a gentle reprimand for sneaking into the Death Zone. The different government bodies had actual power to vote on things. Calling back to the first episode of the Time War series really drives home how much worse things have gotten since.

Note: a “time skiff” is something that existed before TARDISes.

Oooh, here Leela does introduce herself as a “warrior of the Sevateem.” A tiny way of reclaiming her identity, no matter how much Gallifrey tries to squash her personhood.

“Lies are the difference between gaining trust of an ally and throwing it to the dirt.” — This doesn’t feel quite in line with Episode 1; Leela’s already lied to an ally for the greater good.

“Call me Gallifreyan one more time.” That frustration rings true, though.

So the timeline presumably changed now that Phaidon was yanked away before its total destruction, but it doesn’t change much because Phaidon would still be gone at the time of Celestial Intervention. The events probably played out about the same way.

“Their former president caught my ear when I was a mere attaché to a diplomat. She sought to be our ally and equal.” / “Romana taught us both the same lesson, Acting Commander.” I am simply loving all the mentions of Romana in this boxset, but this episode really explores the idea of Romana’s Legacy—of others who she met or knew choosing to carry forward her hopes for peace.

The storm’s whispers got my adrenaline pumping so much. “They’re here. She’s here. He’s here. It’s almost time.” was on the edge of my seat for this reunion, oh my god

“She was difficult, headstrong and demanded everyone share her agenda. We fought, though at times she may have slapped me if it weren’t beneath her. For all that, she never lied to me.” — Really love getting this glimpse of how Romana was perceived by someone who wasn’t a friend or an enemy.

The name of the Ambassador that Commander Daari mentions rings a bell, I think it’s a callback to one of the early series.

One of my notes for Leela and Narvin’s reunion is “they should have hugged.” oh past me, just you wait!!

“My…..Narvin.” Feeling some kind of feelings here ahhhh 🥺🥺Hilarious, sweet, I love them!!!!!

“You blew it up? Ace trained you well.” “I trained her, remember?” my god Leela truly can’t resist teasing him. I love them, I love their friendship, I am going to be yelling about them for most of the rest of this post—

“Together, then.” “Together.” 🥺🥺

Leela and Narvin are much more forgiving of the General than I am. I know it’s all relative, but “a decent sort”? He was really pressing Leela to blow up a planet. That’s a thing that did happen! I get that you take your allies where you can get them when you’re in Leela’s position, but still. although I do like the side plot about the General turning back to help the Phaidonians, “I never could resist a lost cause.” I’ll probably pay more attention to that plot on a re-listen, my brain was just laser-focused on Leela and Narvin and wasn’t paying a lot of attention to anything else happening in this episode. 😅

“Time Lord technology rarely condescends to be too helpful.” oh Narvin, I missed your snark

For a while, given the talk of a sentient weapon, given that the weapon was testing them for their intentions, I was wondering if it was the Moment. But that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Finally, some solo Leela/Narvin time!! The parting in Homecoming suffered badly from having an outside party (Livia) there to prevent anyone from being properly emotional, I am glad this episode has grasped the importance of giving main characters alone time to have proper, emotional conversations that carry the full weight of their friendship.

“Romana is a prisoner of the Matrix.” — Confirmation that her prison is part of the Matrix. also yikes at Narvin hearing it phrased in that specific way, considering this whole war started because he was trying to stop her being a prisoner of the Matrix.

And oh the way Leela says “serve Gallifrey”…..it’s so bitter.

“You must not blame yourself.” “Is it that obvious?” The way she understands instantly what’s going through his mind….the way they’re both blaming themselves for not saving Romana….I am Distraught.

“seventy years, maybe eighty” — holy shit. holy shit. This was the most “gut punch” line of the boxset for me. Seventy to eighty years since Narvin last saw Romana and Leela. Yes that’s not as long to a Time Lord, but I don’t care what Narvin says, it’s still Long.

I am enjoying the way the storm lists out various descriptions for who Narvin and Romana each are to Leela, and both end with “Your friend. Your —” and then it’s cut off. “My…..Narvin” has similar energy, as does Narvin’s “Romana has always been….Romana. And Leela most certainly has always been Leela.” in response to Rayo asking if they’re like family. Love when these audios have these hints of “we cannot fully put our relationship into words” that also double as “you can read it in a shippy way if you want to.”

“Do not let go of my hand, Narvin.” They’re holding hands. They’re holding hands. I am Feeling Things 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

“We’ll figure it out together.” “Together.” I’m. yeah yeah yeah 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

To be honest, the choice was kind of a let down. I was expecting some sort of great moral dilemma, not “pick between several items.” I feel like there were ways to make “select an item” work as a way to physically represent a Big Choice, but this test didn’t feel like A Big Choice, it felt more like luck.

It also felt odd that the Daleks forced Leela to choose an item, and then didn’t order her to collect it, so she would be the one to spring the trap instead of them? (Obviously the story couldn’t have that happen bc the Dalek needed to die and Leela needed to survive, but the motivation still feels weird—why have the Dalek risk itself when there’s a human it can use?)

“I’m sorry. Save Romana, Leela.” holy shit, he really did think he was going to die there. Narvin got a taste of self-sacrifice in the last boxset and is continuing to go for it, oof.

The plot ending feels a bit anti-climatic (they happened to pick right? or they would have been alright whatever they’ve picked because the storm likes them, I’m not sure?). but I do love that they’ve befriended a storm, and I love how baffled Narvin is about it, lol

When Narvin walked into the tent, he put on his CIA Voice for a second, and it threw me—excellent bit of voice acting.

Giving this artifact to Phaidon gives them a lot of power in this War—they have technology that could rival Gallifrey’s or the Daleks’, given time to expand its range and power. And it means they’ve created another safe haven of sorts, like on Micallon. Plus an ally for the Resistance. But I think the safe haven part specifically is crucial—the idea that they’re gradually finding places in the universe where people can hide from the war. Try to live, despite it all. They might not stop the War, but that still matters.

“We’re all stewards of Romana’s vision. And I won’t pass up this chance for her sake.” Romana’s legacy as a force unto itself in this boxset, the hopes that she lost being carried on by other people, and becoming something real…..yeah yeah yeah!!!!!

oh my godddd the garish arcade machine ship engineered that way by Ace is delightful, this is exactly the kind of flavor I want in my Gallifrey. absolutely adore that even the General drags his ship for looking ridiculous.

“I only like the terrible ones.” Narvin’s failure at being a Time Lord as something to be proud of!! He’s a terrible Time Lord now and that’s the point!! And Leela sounds so fond, I’m feeling things

hhhhh I wonder what the consequences will be of the General knowing that Narvin is alive (Narvin tries to cover that he’s working for the Resistance, but his involvement with the plan to blow up the Vortex in TW4 might be known by certain Time Lords, so this has the potential to get messy in future boxsets)

“and I’d do it all over again. Leela, I—” “I know.” screaming!!!!! not since “I will never betray those I love” have I been so wrecked by a bit of dialogue in Gallifrey!!!!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 that he was about to pour out his heart!! that she tells him she knows, she already knew!! I feel so normal about their relationship!!!

“I also know you want to ask me a question, and you know my answer. I cannot.” “I think I’ve known all along.” “If it was not this way, I would come with you. But Romana only lives while I serve.” yelling!!!!!! I am Distraught!!!!!

god yes this is exactly the kind of painful parting I wanted from this boxset—she wants to stay with Narvin, but she’s being torn in two because Romana’s life depends on her, Romana needs her more right now. the heartbreak of the dynamic between the three of them right now—one used as leverage against another, two fighting on different sides in a War, one still believing another is dead….I need all three of them to be united and all have emotions at each other at the same intensity or greater as the emotions in this episode, please

“Though we are apart, you are no longer alone, Narvin.” “No. No, I’m not. None of us are.” asdfghjklal;egenuaceauin LOSING IT

A HUG!!!!!!!!! A HUG AT LAST!!!!!!!!!

so um. in summary: I did like this boxset overall!! episode 2 was my least favorite, episode 3 started weak for me but really drew me in later. episode 1 and episode 4 are tied for favorites I think—ep 1 was just so good on so many levels, but especially re: exploring Leela’s character and letting her shine, and ep 4 was hitting my Deep Emotional Attachment To These Characters’ Friendships feelings. and the themes and resolutions of both of those episodes just really hit me.

very excited to see where this goes next, now that Leela and Narvin are aware of each other and want to help each other and see each other, but can’t be seen to be meeting or working together 👀👀

#i’m really proud of myself for actually typing all of my thoughts up immediately #to avoid the time war 4 situation of “whoops i’m finally getting around to posting an in-depth write up a year later”#am I gonna regret staying up this late tomorrow?#well.#*regret* might not be the right word #but i’m certainly gonna be tired in the morning #but listen. i have feelings about the blorbos!!!!!#gallifrey audios #gallifrey spoilers #leela #narvin #ramblings #emily listens to big finish

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purplesurveys · 2 years

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1. Is there a certain place or store you especially hate going to? Department stores. They’re usually too crowded for my liking and they’re also too large and vast for me to remember. I’d much rather go to individual shops that focus on a particular set of items - like if I needed shoes, I’m most likely to go inside a Nike or whatever so that my choices are already narrowed down from the get go.

2. When was the last time you made plans with someone? Kaye and I have been trying to arrange a meet-up for like a month now but our schedules are never aligned. Like when I had been free a few weeks back she pushed back our initial agreed-upon time to meet since apparently she booked a last-minute trip to Palawan lol and immediately after that was her grad. By the time she was free I had my own shit to do, so. We’re trying to reschedule again this Friday so I’m hoping it finally pushes through.

3. How long do leftovers usually sit in your fridge? It depends on how much of a hit they are in the household. Some dishes would last only a day and there are others we’d honestly forget about til it gets moldy and we’d be forced to throw it out. 4. What is something you do for other people that shows you care for them? Acknowledging them. It’s kind of hard to explain but it’s like, if they reach even just a minor accomplishment at work I’d congratulate them and chat them up for a bit about the milestone; or if they try something for the first time and post about it on socials I’d give it a heart reaction. I usually do this even with people I’m not close with or not necessarily friends with.

5. What was the last animal/pet that you met? Aki.

6. Is there anyone in your life with whom your opinion changes on frequently? You can say this, yes.

7. Do you ever look up set lists for concerts? If it’s a concert I’m going to, yes, I try to sneak around. I definitely did this during my last Paramore show because I wanted to see if they were going to do all my faves from After Laughter (spoiler: they did).

8. Have you ever woken up thinking that the dream you had was real? Yeah, but this normally isn’t a good sign. My dreams tend to feel more realistic when I’m in great stress or melancholy. 9. Have you ever kept a journal? Do you currently keep one? It’s this blog I have, and have had since like 2012? 2013? I don’t even remember anymore.

10. Is there a certain song or band who remind you of specific people? Of course. 11. Would you prefer to take a picture of yourself, or have someone else take it for you? Please, take the camera. I’ve always been garbage at selfies and RARELY take them.

12. How often do you style your hair differently from how you normally style it? I don’t care for hairdos. I just let my hair dry and then I place it in one of three main choices: a bun, a ponytail, or a half ponytail.

13. What was the last thing to really surprise you? I Literally woke up to my mom yelling up a goddamn storm this morning because my brother decided to be real stupid regarding his freshman enrolment for college. I won’t get into the details because it’s pretty complicated, but my animosity with him aside, what he did was pretty fucking dumb. Anyway, to answer the question, this surprised me in every sense of the word lol. The last thing I expected on a Saturday morning was to be woken up by a lot of yelling and reprimanding.

14. What did you do this past weekend? I didn’t make any plans this weekend and I am keeping it that way.

15. Is there something in particular you always seem to forget? Where I place things.

16. Have you ever found out that you have been sleep walking? I sleptwalk a few times as a toddler/kid. That’s it. I don’t think I ever did it as a teenager and now as an adult, and no one’s ever told me that I have, so.

17. What’s the last thing you promised yourself? That I’m taking myself out of the corporate world and some way, somehow, find a way to do the things I’m into and love and am passionate about.

18. Have you ever tried making something from one of those short cooking videos? How did it turn out? Hmm. Do dalgona coffee tutorials count? Hahaha mine turned out fine but I quickly learned it was only a trend for the aesthetics. It’s just milk and coffee that you have to work 10x as hard for lol.

19. When was the last time you had to wait in line for longer than a few minutes? Couple of months ago at the vet. There had been a couple of pet emergencies that needed to be prioritized, but all in all I had waited for a total of two hours. I was super annoyed by the end of the first hour and started to feel bad for Aki since there were no fans or aircon in the waiting area, but then one of the staff asked for my number and suggested that I can wait in the car (where I can keep the aircon on), and that they’ll just call me when Aki’s turn is up.

20. Have you ever written a review for a product you bought online? Yes, especially if I’ve bought from a small business.

21. Would you rather go out somewhere with your friends or stay at home and hang out with them instead? I’m honestly happy with both; it’s the time with them I look forward to, not where we happen to be.

22. Do you ever interact with any brands/companies online? Only if I have anything to raise/complain about.

23. How happy are you with your current job? If you don’t have a job, what’s something you think you think you would dislike about working? I’ve been very clear with my feelings on this blog but to reiterate, I feel like I’ve pretty much reached the finish line with it; the honeymoon days of genuinely finding satisfaction and worth in what I do are over, and I start and end the day feeling like a robot. I know the realistic, grown-up route to this is to suck it up (because who in the corpo world is actually happy?) but...that just doesn’t sit right with me. I have lots of interests and passions I could be doing something with, and I’m just looking for that golden ticket to like, be able to do something in a museum or like a historical commission or whatever. 24. Is there anything you seem especially sensitive to, such as sounds, smells, etc? The sound of a door slamming sends my brain into a panic. That was my mom’s typical move whenever she’d get mad when I was a kid, so the trauma lives on. Even if someone does it accidentally, it always feels like my heart drops and I’d need a couple of minutes to compose myself.

25. What was the last board game you played? I’m not super sure when it comes to board games.

#survey #surveys

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theshadytree123 · 5 months

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So here’s a little something I wrote for Halloween. Yes, I know it’s literally Thanksgiving right now, but I’m currently very sick and very bored, so have fun, I suppose.

It’s a set of diary entries written by Valerie Landrey, the owner of an apothecary shop band the mentor figure of one of my main characters, Ankis Brice, who is known as Ante Akari in the story (1. Yes, she’s named after that weird doctor lady from I’m the Grim Reaper. I think she was the main character or something? I don’t know, its been like 2 years since I read that webtoon and I remember nothing except I think liked it and it was kind of sad.

2. You may notice that I use she/her pronouns in my little spiel at the top here for Ankis, but Valerie uses he/him pronouns for Ante in the story. That is because Ankis is trans and this story is written before she transitioned, and yes, it did feel vaguely like a social faux pas the entire time I wrote this story as I repeatedly used the wrong pronouns for this character. Feel free to scream at me in the comments about it or something)

Am I happy about how this story came to out? Not particularly. Especially the ending. It doesn’t really make sense if you don’t know the rest of the story, and how things go in the Arc Ankis shows up in. (Spoiler alerts: she’s now a zombie who’s also a traveling healer and in this “will they won’t they” relationship with this ex-priest lady who’s also a main character. Things got complicated real quick.) But I’ve been looking at this thing for like a month now and I’m completely blind to how it actually looks, so I letting the whole world see it as I lay in my bed watching my party get absolutely demolished by that stupid Fire Lady in Dragonheir and think about writing a silly short story set in a super school for my characters.

Six Drops of Oil, Pressed from the Ragata Flower

Threeday, 3rd of Middle Winter, Year 211 ATS

I lost another bet with Ariadne today, so I have to actually do one of my Arkarus Resolutions. Starting a diary seemed like the least annoying, so here we are. I really should stop making bets with her. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think she’s a Seer. If you are reading this while I’m still alive, kindly stop. Especially you Gallas! I know where your rock collection is. Don’t test me. If I’m not alive, then feel free to keep going. What do I care? I’m dead!

I guess I should introduce myself. I’m Valerie Landrey. I grew up in the slum district of Sekan, and now I run an apothecary here tailored to my neighbors who likely don’t have the money for the “luxury” of medicine. Whether or not my brews actually work well is… complicated. I don’t exactly have the best materials to work with, but I try my best and they usually turn out okay. It’s not like my customers complain. They know beggars can’t be choosers.

Sixday, 26th of Old Autumn, Year 216 ATS

So… I may have done something stupid… I took home a child. Look, Ariadne already screamed herself hoarse when she saw him. Why would you take home another mouth to feed, there’s a bunch of street children out there, what’s another one, blah, blah, blah. It felt weird to just leave him there though, you know? He was a scrappy little thing, and the obvious malnourishment didn’t help much. He’s a smart kid though, even tried this whole distraction technique before pickpocketing me. Not that it worked, mind you, but he’s got spunk. It'll be good to have someone to continue the shop after I’m six feet under, anyway. What’s the worst that could happen?

Fiveday, 15th of New Summer, Year 220 ATS

Taking in Ante that day four years ago was the best decision I ever made. That kid’s a genius. You wouldn’t believe the stuff he’s making! My brews had never worked that well. It’s too bad that we couldn’t publicly give him credit for all the work he’s doing, but Deitri discrimination is at an all time high lately. I’m worried about who can be the salesperson for the shop after I’m gone. This place is crucial to the lives of everyone in the slums district. Elves live for a long time, but I’m gonna kick the bucket eventually. For now though, things are good. We’ve even got a few rich customers lately that we could overcharge, so we’re rolling in cash!

Twoday, 2nd of Old Winter, Year 221 ATS

The Count of Borslaot is dead. To be honest, good riddance to bad rubbish. That guy was a nasty piece of work. I heard that he was poisoned, though. It’s just a rumor but I wouldn’t be surprised if it's true. It’s not like he had a shortage of enemies to choose from.

On less nice news, today someone spotted Ante walking around in the shop and called him a demon-spawn. Ante said that it didn't bother him, but I could tell he was angry. Honestly, the discrimination against Deitri is just getting worse. I’m worried that Ante’s going to get shanked or poisoned one day when I’m not looking just because of who he is.

Sixday, 26th of New Spring, Year 222 ATS

Another noble died today. That’s three in as many weeks. Their family had hired me to see if I could tell the cause of death, and Good Calcine. I’m surprised no one threw up while we were there. I’m surprised I didn’t throw up. There was blood everywhere. Dripping out of the body’s eyes, it’s nose, it’s mouth, you name it, there was blood coming out. The bedsheets were practically soaked with crimson. The body had bloody scratch marks all over their throat made from their own fingernails, and their larynx was completely busted, likely from screaming. I’m surprised no one heard them screeching in agony while they died. I could tell the cause of death was a poison, but not what kind. I asked Ante, and he couldn’t figure it out either. There was no trace of any other evidence left behind either. Whoever did this was good. Scarily good.

Twoday, 2nd of Middle Spring, Year 222 ATS

The Poisoner has struck again, and this time, it was a commoner. It wasn’t anyone I knew personally, but Gallas did. He said it was one of his coworkers. They weren’t particularly close - in fact, they practically hated each other, but it still hurt. At first, the killings almost felt like retribution, like the killer was punishing the nobles for their corruption, but this is quickly getting out of hand. Ariadne and Gallas stopped by to chat for a little bit after the shop closed today. Ariadne still doesn’t particularly like Ante, but they’ve learned to be at least cordial with each other. Gallas, on the other hand, loves him. They’ve been on several expeditions outside the city over the years, picking flowers and herbs for the shop. It's clear that he has absolutely no idea what he’s doing when he goes with him, but it's still nice to see him try.

Nineday, 9th of Middle Autumn, Year 222 ATS

People are starting to drop like flies. Half of the major noble families have been wiped out. The city is in shambles. So many power vacuums have opened up, that at this point it's just pandemonium. Ante has been holing up in the back lab for the entire tenday, experimenting with something. I think he’s trying to find a way to cure whatever the Poisoner is using. I’ve barely seen him at all, even for meals. I hope he’s been eating and sleeping enough.

The Darkening is going to begin next month, but I haven’t seen anyone prepare at all. They’re too busy running around freaking out about this Poisoner. You’d think that Calcine, the Burning Sun going out for two days would be more concerning, but I suppose after 222 years of dealing with it every year, I guess it’s not all that exciting anymore. I wonder if anyone would ever find a way to stop the Darkening from spreading. I doubt it. How do you stop something if you don’t even know the cause?

Sevenday, 17 of Middle Winter, Year 222 ATS

There’s been a new victim. It was Ariadne. Yesterday, I woke up to the sound of the front door opening. I had looked to see who it was, and I saw Gallas struggling to close and lock the door, hands trembling. He was still dressed in his night clothes despite the cold temperature. I immediately ran up to him asking, “Good Calcine! Gallas, why are you here? Where’s Ariadne?”

He turned around, his body shaking like a leaf, and from that angle, I could see all of the dried blood caked on his hands and clothing. He collapsed into my arms, muttering, “It’s my fault, it’s my fault, it’s all my fault.”

He organized a funeral for her today, being her next of kin. We all grew up as street kids, so it’s not the first friend I’ve lost, but I thought we were past that part of our lives. The part where we live in fear of what’s to come everyday. I suppose it never truly ends.

Threeday, 33rd of New Winter, Year 222 ATS

They found the Poisoner. They let him have some final words before the executioner cut his head off. I can still hear them echoing in my head. I’ve inscribed them here, for you to see.

“When I was a small child, my parents were shoemakers. Simple folk, but kind. But someone just couldn’t let them be. Someone had just had to punish them for the crime of birthing a demonspawn. So they fixed it. They snuck in one day, chopped their heads off, and paraded them in front of me, their little cursed demon child. Everyone knew who did it, they all knew who killed them. But no one did anything. Too afraid, perhaps. Or maybe they agreed with him. Who knows? That person soon became the Count of Borslaot. And we all know what happened to him. Six drops of oil, pressed from the Ragata flower. That’s all it took to kill my first victim. And the next. And the next. I want you all to remember how fragile your lives are. Maybe then, it’ll serve as a good enough warning for you all the next time you try to feign ignorance.”

Everyone is celebrating Finid outside. It’s always been a frantic holiday. People trying to get all of their affairs in order before the Darkening. I think I’ll be staying inside this time. I’d like to find all of Ante’s things so I can put them into the grave they dug for him. Or maybe I’ll just burn them. I haven’t decided yet.

The Second Day of the Darkening, Year 222 ATS

It’s fitting, how I’m going to die just before the new year begins. I can hear them searching for me in the house. Whether it's the nobles coming to tie off loose ends, or someone new, I know they are coming for me, and I know they will find me. They really were quite clever, doing this during the Darkening. Plenty of people die during it anyway. No one will think foul play is involved. I wonder if I’ll see Ante when I die. He better hope not. I have a few words for him after what he did to Ariadne.

#fiction #fantasy #literature #my writing #writing #original writing #orginal story #does anyone know where your supposed to put the more break on your posts?#I put them right after my little intro but is there actually a proper place to put them?

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formula-fun · 6 months

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i was writing this ask and honestly don't remember if i sent it or not so sorry in advance 😭✋️ i disagree with the previous anon, the problem isnt people focusing on the miscarriage, i think, personally, that people just really like the universe and want to see more, and since things about this story could be spoilers, they ask the hypotheticals (the baby, the pregnancy). At least thats the way i see it. Im equally curious about charles courting max and about max slowly but surely seeing charles as a safe space to kind of get away from everything (🥰) as i am about the baby, but i imagine that would be spoilers and wouldnt ask because maybe you would find it annoying seeing as its going to be in the next chapter. I am really excited about this story, because, like you said, it is a very clear that it's about a growing relationship and your writing and analysis are so so so good. You get us on our toes and dont treat them one dimensionally, I think its very easy to write Max as headstrong and Charles as sweet but you show another side to it (like real people are lol often not one just one thing). Its good tho that you spoke up about anyways so that we know what to focus on. I am curious tho because i wouldnt want to intrude: what are the kind of things that we can send in abt this story without being too invasive? Like I saw some people talking about ivf and you said we should wait and see sooooo maybe not that? Lol 😝

Hope youre having a great day!

Hiiii!!! I'm having a study day, so thank you for giving me a reason to take a break dfjskdfksjdfkdsj I think you're absolutely right, I don't think people mean anything by it and I don't hold it against anyone! It would be nice to not ONLY get asks that are about that, but I'm not upset about it or anything!

Thank you, this is all really sweet <3 and please don't ever worry about annoying me! The only things that annoy me are people telling me what to write, asking nonstop when the update will be or critiquing my work when I didn't ask for it. Anything else is fair game! If you ask something and I don't answer because it'll be in the next chapter I'm never annoyed, I just know you'll have an answer really soon so I don't want to spoil it. It's also helpful sometimes to know what questions people have because it tells me what people are paying attention to and what I need to focus on. So never never annoying! I'm also ridiculously easy to tempt into giving spoilers, it's really sad. If i get a question and don't answer because it's a spoiler but then someone asks me the same thing a second time? I'm probably just spoiling it, because I'm horrible at keeping secrets. So dont worry about it dfjkdfjks don't worry about being invasive either. i literally can't think of a question someone could ask me about this fic that i would consider invasive

(2) Also, previous anon here, but a whole different topic, if its off limits, feel free not to answer. I really like how you capture two people loving each other and not always agreeing but always understanding if that makes any sense?? Like charles probably doesnt like jo but he keeps out of it because he knows max instead of trying to push them apart. I think most people writing a story would go "oh charles should protect max from jo and not let them see each other" but its much more complicated than that, its his father figure still and they dont only have bad moments. The same thing with charles x ferrari. I see a lot of fics where max pushes charles to go to red bull and sure, thats fun to read, but max understanding the deep attachment charles has to ferrari is much nicer. He knows its not only about a wdc, its about charles' father, jules, his relationship with the team etc. Tell me if im wrong but thats just what i observed

thanks!! you're absolutely right <3 that idea is really important to me, that you can't control the people who you love and they don't belong to you. charles knows max loves his dad on his own terms and it's not up to him to get between them, but he can offer Max somewhere soft to land if he ever decides to cut his dad off. and max really just wants to see charles succeed, so if charles' dream is to win with Ferrari then Max wants that too. (and also personally I want that gjfghjgfhjgf) they don't always understand each other's actions, but they can at least do their best to understand each other's feelings, and that's a good way to make a strong supportive relationship. We hope

thanks so much for the ask, you're really kind!! <33 hope you're doing well

#writing tag #if i had words

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ootahime · 3 years

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what is utahime’s role in the future? — a prediction (manga spoilers)

part 1 (unedited)

I WAS ABOUT TO POST IT BUT I ACCIDENTALLY DELETED IT AND I WAS SO HURT FR!!!!! I HAD REWRITE THIS ENTIRE THING </33

part 2 is here!

in this post, i will be analyzing the information we’ve been given about utahime so far to form a prediction about her future role in the jujutsu kaisen series. if you’re as interested in utahime’s character as i am, please feel free to keep reading :3 (i’ll also be talking about her relationship with gojo a bit too)

soukatsu_ on twt!

kaikaikitan on twt!

utahime iori is a semi-grade 1 sorcerer working as a student supervisor/teacher at kyoto jujutsu high school. she loves drinking beer and going to karaoke. she’s also close friends with shoko and she’s not particularly fond of gojo most of the time. what else do we know about her?

hates sweets (funny she’s the complete opposite of gojo)

she’s great at singing and it’s a huge part of her technique

squabbling with gojo became a reflex :3

everyone absolutely adores utahime

loves watching soccer and baseball

a terrible drunk (worse than naobito zenin)

gojo is her main source of stress

let’s dive into her personality and abilities!

chapter 65

before i get into it, i think it’d be best if i were to explain the timeline because a lot of people seem to be confused about this one particular thing. utahime is born on february 18th, 1987. contrary to popular belief, she is not 3 years older than gojo. it is november 2018 in the story because gojo was sealed on halloween. if gojo was born on december 7th, 1989, that would mean that right now, he is only 28 years old. he has yet to turn 29.

the year is 2007. gojo satoru is a second year at tokyo jujutsu high school. the japanese school year begins in april which suggests that gojo is only 17 at the time (even if it’s not april, it doesn’t look like winter yet so it’s unlikely that he’s already 18). utahime is 20 because it is past february. she is a 2nd grade sorcerer at the age of 20. that’s not bad at all!

chapter 65 introduces young utahime and mei on a mission together within a cursed site. in real time, they’ve been gone for two days which is a cause of concern for gojo, shoko, and geto because the two haven’t contacted anyone since the beginning of their mission. the two begin to suspect something is wrong because the hallway markers they’ve set in place disappeared, and no matter how far they travel within the halls, the end is nowhere in sight. mei theorizes that the cursed spirit is overlapping the space as they travel forward. utahime agrees with this speculation and proposes a plan to escape the cursed spirit’s grasp by moving erratically. notice how she says that if one of them should escape, they can try to attack from the outside or call for help. if utahime was not capable of inflicting damage on anything then she would have told mei to escape and attack if she can while she waited to be rescued. however, she didn’t. she included herself in the sentence which leads me to believe that she is capable of going on the offense if needed.

keep in mind that at this point in time, mei is a grade 1 sorcerer. she is knowledgeable about all things involving jujutsu because she is experienced and skillful. we can see this aspect of her character illustrated when she theorizes that the cursed spirit is messing with the space they’re in. she chooses to go with utahime’s plan because she agrees that it’s the best action moving forward. this verifies that utahime is an intelligent girl that’s able to get along with pretty much anyone.

her intellect is demonstrated once again in chapter 79. she was able to deduce the possibility of there being more than one traitor and the fact that one is probably a higher up. she also narrowed down the mechamaru as the mole of kyoto not because he was acting suspicious but by process of elimination. she thought thoroughly of his technique and how easy it would be for him to manipulate devices small enough to be undetectable.

sure you can argue that she should already know all her students’ abilities and whatnot but you have to admit that it’s hard trying to sniff out the traitor when no one is acting suspicious. in addition to that, how did she know that there was a traitor in the top brass? i would have never guessed that tbh LOL (maybe bc im an idiot).

okay, now that we have established that she’s intelligent, let’s answer a more important question. is utahime weak?

chapter 33

if gojo calls utahime weak, does that mean there is some truth to it? well it is true that she is weaker than him because he’s the strongest and all. in my opinion, he’s just teasing her. he probably found that calling her weak is what really riles her up. maybe i’ll talk about why he loves teasing her so much in a later post. but anyway, gojo calls everybody and their mom weak. he even said jogo was weak and we know how powerful that guy is. gojo’s words alone do not indicate much about utahime’s power. in fact, i don’t even think he has seen her use her technique yet. he’s probably only ever heard of how it works. this is what i think their conversation about her technique was like:

gojo: hm? ur cursed technique is singing? can u show me?

utahime: what! no way!

gojo: why not?

*one of the classmates tells him that she can only use her CT once in a while because it consumes a lot of energy*

gojo: hahaha! u have to conserve cursed energy to use ur CT? why are u so weak, utahime?

utahime: i! am! your! senpai! respect! me!

what i’m trying to say is that gojo loves poking fun of people. we should not believe him when he calls someone weak because compared to him, everyone is weak.

this is a little off topic but let’s examine him telling her, “and you don’t have the nerves, utahime.” i think he’s trying to say that there’s no way she’ll ever do something like that because she’s not the type to put her students in danger. remember the soft expression and relieved smile on her lips when she said that she was glad the students were safe after the kyoto incident? gojo was directly in front of her so not only did he hear her say that, but he could have seen the look on her face too. even if he told her that she didn’t have the guts to betray the school to get on her nerves, he knew that utahime simply cared too much about the students so he ruled her out as a suspect right away. this is why he ultimately decided to confide in her and ask her to help him.

i’m a person who loves over-analyzing things. i really enjoy the dynamic between gojo and utahime. they’ve known each other for more than 11 years and although they always bicker, there is an unspoken feeling of trust between the two. gojo can do anything and everything by himself because he is truly the strongest person alive, but he still knows when to rely on others. him deciding to entrust utahime with such a job implies that he believes in utahime’s abilities.

chapter 52

she’s not using any cursed energy here--not to our knowledge at least. this is just pure skill. she was able to swiftly evade the swing from haruta. he was surprised himself considering the fact that he was right behind her. how do we know her CT isn’t speed? after haruta swung at her, we can see that some of her hair got cut off. if she was using her CT then speed should be her specialty. she should have been able to completely avoid the attack altogether but she didn’t. of course this isn’t a wow moment because jujutsu sorcerers should know how to dodge attacks, however, i’m just trying to get the point across that she’s not a defenseless person without her technique or others. let’s not forget that semi-grade 1 isn’t a weak rank either. you can’t simply be recommended to be a grade 1 sorcerer if you only can support others.

chapter 48

i want to bring up this panel. it suggests that utahime and takuma are sorcerers who have not experienced black flash and therefore, do not understand the essence of cursed energy as well as those who have like gojo and nanami. i find it strange how takuma and utahime were used to represent sorcerers who haven’t experienced it yet. is the purpose to demonstrate that there is a clear difference in skill between adult sorcerers like utahime and takuma compared to gojo and nanami? i could be nitpicking but the order of todo’s statement doesn’t line up with the sorcerers being shown. let me explain in depth. todo starts off by saying, “for those who have experienced black flash as compared to those who have not...” wouldn’t it make more sense to show gojo and nanami on the right side to represent sorcerers who have experienced black flash? that was mentioned first, after all. gojo and nanami should appear when todo says “for those who have experience black flash” while utahime and takuma should be shown right after to personify the second part, “as compared to those who have not.” i’m just making it more complicated than it actually is LOLOL i’m sure it really just means they haven’t experienced black flash yet, which is completely fine. i also find it fascinating how they used utahime to contrast gojo. with nanami and takuma it makes sense. nanami is someone takuma looks up to, he wants to gain nanami’s approval before he deems himself worthy of a promotion. what about utahime and gojo? what’s the purpose of comparing those two together when it’s obvious that gojo knows more about the essence of cursed energy more than anyone else? i might be delusional whoops

----

let me know what you guys think? this is only a part 1 so i haven’t gotten around to answering the question. i’m pretty much done with the second part, i just need to revise it a little. i think after i post part 2, i’ll try to interpret all the gojo and utahime moments in the manga >.<

#gojohime #gouta #gojo x utahime

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thefirstknife · 3 years

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SIGH

Myelin released a video today arguing that Osiris is already dead. I disagree with most of his arguments and also am not a fan of some of them in particular and I want to address this in case people watch and are confused. And I assume people will ask questions about it. I think Myelin himself is also confused about certain things he mentioned and isn't interpreting them properly.

Disclaimer: obviously I am biased when it comes to this. I want Osiris to not die. This isn't an attempt to entirely disprove the theory that he may be dead already. Ultimately I don't know if he's dead. I'll do my best to look at it objectively and also address Myelin's points objectively.

I'll try to summarise Myelin's points and address them but you can always watch his video yourself to make sure I didn't interpret him wrong.

Now, Myelin's main point is that Osiris was possessed by Savathun instead of Savathun making a meat puppet/clone in his image or simply shapeshifting into him. His first proof is the Wolftone Draw bow lore. We've all read the lore and Myelin also reads the lore.

First, he wonders how Osiris is seeing what Savathun is doing. Obviously, we have no answer for this yet. Myelin's position is that this is proof of him being possessed and him trying to break through the possession. He also says that some of it seems like "Osiris views his own body in a third perspective." Which I agree with!

What I disagree with is Myelin saying this could mean Osiris' "physical body was destroyed" and that he may be floating around in some form similar to Toland. I'm not sure why complicate the matter in this way when the most obvious answer to this is simply that Savathun has created a clone or shapeshifted into a form of Osiris and the real Osiris is trapped somewhere. The lore seems to indicate this pretty clearly to me:

I cannot speak, cannot breathe, I reach for Sagira but then I remember… I form a fist but feel nothing, I am bound, and as I thrash the images cut fissures through my mind—

And:

She has stolen my form, my voice, but someone will see my failure and cast her out… they MUST—

These seem to me like he is somewhere and he is seeing through his clone's eyes at certain points. It would fit Savathun's MO to torture him in this way. She assumed his form and the real him is bound elsewhere, somewhere safe. I've said so before, and it turned out to be true: Savathun is using Osiris as a bargaining chip so possessing him would be much riskier to her plan than simply keeping him imprisoned somewhere where we can't get to him and where he can't break free from possession. It would make no sense for her to kill him.

As for how he's seeing things if he's not possessed: Savathun is THE Witch Queen. She has exhibited a wide array of magical and paracausal abilities, including the ability to shapeshift and watch others through objects and living beings. Osiris specifically says that he is "bound" and that the images of what she's doing "cut fissures through his mind" and that he's "thrashing," as well as asserting that Savathun "has stolen his form." If he's bound somewhere in her throne world, she may very well be using some sort of Hive magic to inflict images she wants him to see upon him. Just enough to allow him to know that he is a prisoner.

I'm not sure why Myelin only makes two positions: either he's in third perspective without a body like Toland OR he's possessed. The third option is right there: Savathun assumed his likeness.

That brings both Myelin and me to his next point which he positions as the "real turning point" for him. It's from the Chrysura Melo autorifle:

Savathûn, physical form a twisting instar, emerges from the shadows and crawls over the shattered pieces of the Ghost. She reaches toward the ruined man.

Myelin focuses on the bold part, a specific word: "instar." This is a nice catch btw, something I haven't noticed before. He describes what an "instar" is. Tw bugs for that link, but an instar is "a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, between each moult (ecdysis), until sexual maturity is reached." Savathun's physical form is described as a twisting instar at this point and Myelin says that she is in the stage of changing herself into a new form. He also says that in this form she "needs a new skin" and therefore steals the skin of Osiris aka possesses him.

But from all the googling and research I've done, I can't seem to find any examples of insect instars needing to acquire a new outside source to change their forms. They simply exist in one larval form (instar) and then change into another as they outgrow the previous one. They don't have to find another body or a host to inhabit.

Seeing as Myelin bases most of his theory on this specific word, I have to challenge that because this is simply not what that word means. Savathun, in the process of changing from one instar to another, doesn't have to possess Osiris. She simply has to change her form from one instar into another. It's still her and it's more likely that she looks to the real Osiris to use him as a model for what new form she will take.

This is why the Chrysura Melo lore page is describing "Osiris" as being uncertain on his legs and confused by human behaviours and slowly falling apart over months and months of existence: this is Savathun's instar in the shape of Osiris which is reaching the end of its lifespan and at the end of that lifespan, Savathun has to shed that instar and turn into another. Generally, moths have a few instar forms before turning into a cocoon and then later emerging out as moths. This is a nice page with pictures, but again, tw for bugs. She has clearly reached the end of her Osiris-instar and shed it away when Mara trapped her in a chrysalis cocoon where Savathun is continuing to grow, like a moth, to eventually assume the form we see in The Witch Queen. Some examples that, to me, allude to Savathun existing in a Osiris-instar and how that shape is unfamiliar to her:

Osiris takes a shaky step forward.

...

He passes the bottle, and Osiris, hands numb, puzzles at it. His mouth hangs in a half-smile before he takes a long drink, slaking a bone-deep thirst.

...

When Saint places a hand on his forearm, Osiris holds impossibly still just to see what the other man will do.

...

Osiris stumbles as he walks through the Last City.

Savathun is describing her life as Osiris and it's clear, from this and other huge amount of lore, that she was very unfamiliar with the human form and that, at the end, it started falling apart on its own. Which is what would happen to a instar of an insect, forcing it to switch into a new stage. In Ripe, she also specifically states "I am ready earlier than anticipated." In the same lore page, she also mentions a lot of really weird descriptions of how her "form" is dissolving essentially and "I clench the gangling black mass that threatens to unspool recklessly from within this shell of flesh. My new arms are too thin, too weak. My new shell still bound with thick mucus." She's barely holding it together. I'm not sure why Osiris' real human body would've been doing this.

There's another aspect from Ripe and that is that she mentions her worm inside of her:

I feel this form splitting beneath its wrappings, held together weakly by wet strands of sinew. And from deep inside, stirred by that latest scrap of deception, I hear the oily growl of the Worm.

This is how we know that her Osiris-form is her. Otherwise, Osiris' real body would've been possessed by Savathun who also holds her worm and that's more than convoluted. What we're looking at, presumably, is Savathun's instar which always has a worm at the center and evolves into other forms around the worm itself.

I'm sorry if this is rambly, but I just really can't see how possession would be possible, especially when based on insect morphology. As a last addition to the whole "instar" business which seems to be the center of Myelin's theory, I want to take a look at the word itself. It's a Latin word, and well... :

īnstar n sg (indeclinable, no genitive)

image, likeness, resemblance

counterpart

worth, value

an equal form (of)

of equal weight/size/form (to)

By the Traveler this can't be happening. Once again I am caught in the euphoria of analysing Latin words being used in Destiny. By all definitions, except maybe number 3, this alludes to a clone. An image of something. Resembling something. A likeness. Counterpart. An equal form of...

Savathun's insect-instar form fashioned in the likeness of Osiris. Not Savathun infecting Osiris: Savathun morphing herself into a counterpart of his form.

With that whole thing done, Myelin focuses on the infamous sidearm Spoiler Alert. It has a description which is just: "Someone is going to die." Myelin uses this as proof that, well, someone is going to die because the last time this gun was issued, Cayde died.

The problem here, even if we're taking this as a serious lore hint, is the timeline. Originally, Spoiler Alert was issued in Warmind. Cayde-6 died in the expansion after Warmind.

Spoiler Alert being issued in Season of the Lost would then be an equivalent of telling us someone is going to die in The Witch Queen expansion.

What does that have to do with Osiris? The position Myelin takes in this whole video is that Osiris is already dead. Not that he will die in The Witch Queen: that he has already died, perhaps at the start of this season when Savathun transformed off-screen OR even further back, at the end of Immolant, when she possessed him. This makes no sense with his other position, that Osiris is observing what Savathun is doing: how, if he's dead and why would we even get this lore if he's dead?

Most of all, Spoiler Alert, if it's alluding to a future death of a major character, cannot allude to Osiris having died before the gun was re-issued OR to him dying literally on the day the gun was re-issued. What kind of a warning is that? If they really wanted to allude to Osiris dying with this gun, the gun would've had to have been re-issued in Season of the Splicer as the final possible season to "warn us."

If Spoiler Alert is telling us some important character will really die, it's telling us this will happen in The Witch Queen. I can't imagine a situation where we save Osiris in this season and then he dies in the next expansion. Kinda pointless plotline. And it also does not fit with the rest of the video which is telling us that Osiris is already dead and Savathun is bluffing about having him as a bargaining chip. I am also not in favour of the theory that we will not find the real Osiris this season and that this plotline will stretch into The Witch Queen because that would be almost a year of grappling with the same plot of "we have to find Osiris." So whatever happens to Osiris, we will know this season. Which means the Spoiler Alert gun is of no relevance to the outcome of the Osiris plot.

The next point Myelin makes is the cutscene from week 1 of Savathun talking to us. He focuses on the image of Osiris looking kinda dead, with moths flying around him and one moth coming out of his mouth. This image is a better argument than any of the above because the imagery here is very clear. No room to misinterpret this really, we literally see Osiris being half-skeletal with a moth coming from his mouth.

However, if we take the position that Savathun made a clone, then the "dead" Osiris in this image is just that clone being dead after it fell apart and Savathun had to transform. The moth coming out of his mouth is probably what this is supposed to symbolise: Savathun outgrowing her Osiris-instar and assuming a new form, currently cocooned in Mara's chambers.

Not to mention that she literally says she "assumed his shape." Not "took his body." She "assumed his shape" to be "more pleasing to our eyes" so she could "guide our victory" against Xivu Arath. Obviously she couldn't guide us if she looked like the Hive. Instead, she morphed into a shape that looks like Osiris and kept him to herself, possibly for information as well as a bargaining chip.

The next part is something I heavily dislike as a point from Myelin.

He starts by saying how there's a trope in movies where you get attached to a character and you just have a feeling that something bad is going to happen to them because the narrative is making you form a bond with that character. And at first I thought he'll say that the narrative has been doing this with Osiris, which is WEIRD, due to how generally disliked he is in the fandom, mostly due to people misunderstanding him, but also due to other reasons which have resurfaced ever since he's been officially confirmed as a gay man in a relationship with Saint.

And of course, Myelin is not talking about Osiris at all. He's talking about Saint. He's saying that the narrative made us attached to Saint and that "they are setting up Saint-14 to lose Osiris." This is aggravating in several ways.

One, that trope about being attached to a character is generally about the character that is going to die. Bungie didn't make us get attached to Cayde so they can kill off Ikora. They made us attached to Cayde and then killed off Cayde. Making us attached to Saint-14 to kill off Osiris is completely disregarding Osiris as a character in his own right and Osiris is by far THE most powerful and important Guardian that has ever lived. To boil him down to an accessory of Saint's story is not just disrespectful to Osiris, it's just utterly wrong.

And second, essentially fridging Osiris for Saint's manpain is just homophobia. As far as I know, Myelin is not a gay man so him making this point is simply homophobic. We do not need Osiris to die to see Saint's pain and drive for vengeance against Savathun. Bungie has made that clear. It's actually never been clearer just how much Saint suffers right now, in how much pain he is and how angry he is.

It's been shown in the voice lines in the main quest, in the cutscene at the start of the season, in the week 2 radio transmission, in voice lines during various activities, in voice lines from other people talking about him (most notably Ikora saying he's "tearing up the system to find real Osiris") and in various lore tabs. We truly do NOT need more affirmation to how much Saint is suffering. We surely don't need to ramp up the angst by killing Osiris off in order to send Saint into a more of a frenzy. His frenzy is already known and already underway. The man has tried breaking into Savathun's chamber to kick her ass already. He is "tearing the system apart." He is broadcasting live. He went on a mission with Mithrax to find Sagira's remains and the most likely place where Osiris went missing. The man is already on a crusade.

I don't think he needs to learn that Osiris has died somewhere, alone, months ago in order for us to see his pain. Or to cause more pain to us, the players. It's simply a completely insensitive way of looking at a story of two gay men who have been through enough suffering already.

I know people dislike and misunderstand Osiris. I know people absolutely adore Saint. I know people would get a kick out of seeing Saint going feral instead of him behaving in a very trope-shattering way by plugging holes in the Wall and feeding pigeons and singing songs to the children of the City.

I think those people don't understand Saint nor do they appreciate him as he is. They certainly have no respect for the man he loves or for their relationship that transcends time, space and reality. And if Saint knew that, he would definitely go feral on their ass first and foremost.

I'd like to think that Season of the Lost is a direct mirror of Season of Dawn. Two very important turning points in Destiny's story that are led by an undying love between Osiris and Saint-14. Just as Osiris risked it all and we all supported him in getting Saint back, right now we are all supporting Saint and risking it all to get Osiris back.

And as an important note, the story so far has been very clear to explain to us that we're looking for "the real Osiris." This is what this whole season is based on. We want real Osiris back. This alone disproves the theory of possession, but it also highlights that this season is about saving someone we've lost. Ending the season that's based on trying to find Osiris by telling us "oh he's dead" seems to be very much narratively senseless.

Speaking of narratively senseless, Osiris' death would not make sense yet. His arc isn't over. His questions and plotlines aren't over (and he has raised many of them in Immolant, which hasn't been followed up on because he got kidnapped). And speaking of Immolant, there is the following, from Sagira:

"Shut up! Listen to my words!" Her iris is bright with Light. "There are great things still left for you; don't lose hope in the darkness." She is luminant.

Osiris breathes the word, as if he could hold it back: "No." He would understand in time. She had seen it.

This seems like a pretty strong implication that his story is far from over. It would be quite a bummer if this was completely ignored and we're delivered Osiris' dead body at some point during this season.

Of course, I'm not discouting the possibility that Osiris will never be the same after this. It's likely that there will be lasting consequences if he's alive.

I am also not discounting the possibility that Osiris may as well be dead. I want to make that clear. It's possible. But I did my best to make a somewhat coherent analysis of why that is probably not the case and why Myelin's position in particular is flawed. And as I said at the start, I definitely am biased in a way that makes me hope that Osiris is not dead. I fully understand that and would not be opposed to people pointing out flaws in my argument if there are any. I am, genuinely, trying to be as objective as possible with this though, but as always, I could end up being wrong in the end.

And that is my TED talk.

#destiny 2 #osiris #savathun #saint-14 #o14 #lore vibing #long post #i am burdened with writing essays when lore youtubers make a video

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faelicy · 4 years

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Miss Faelicy I would love to get your opinion on Bingqiu.

I see people posting things like how they are "problematic" and how they don't really love each other and SQQ only feels sympathy etc. Obviously there were struggles between them as there should be (considering all that happened) and just because sqq wasn't very open and super obvious about his feelings doesn't mean they are not there..this is how I interpreted it. I would love to know your opinion

Hello! This also covers part 2 of the previous ask.

First, massive spoilers for the end of the novel. Second, a disclaimer: I despise shipwars, which I think are behind most of those comments. I hate them because it's usually all in bad faith: everyone's already committed to their interpretation of the ships, and any discussion is just a guise for justifying their preferences.

So to any readers: I don't want anything here to be used as shipwar fuel. This post is about Bingqiu's canon arc and themes. Basically, I don't know or care if Bingqiu is a good ship, but I do think it's a well-written one.

I'll start by saying directly: for most of the novel, Bingqiu is neither healthy nor romantic. And that this is not bad writing, but on purpose.

A relationship that drives one party to mental breakdown isn't healthy. A relationship where that party says it's okay to hurt or kill them can't possibly be healthy. That happened because there was something deeply wrong with their relationship, something that can't be reduced to Xin Mo, miscommunication, or LBH throwing a tropey yandere fit.

And out of all three MXTX novels, only SV lacks a love confession from the MC to the ML. Again, I don't think it's an oversight, or just because SQQ's face is too thin. There are plenty of ways MXTX could have worked a subtle one in if she really wanted to.

In my opinion, Bingqiu's narrative can be split up into four arcs: Qing Jing Peak (ch 1-27), Jin Lan City (28-43), Post-revival (29-55), and Reconciliation (56-81). Other than the first arc, where their relationship is pretty straightforward, Bingqiu spend most of the rest in direct conflict.

I'll give an overview of the arcs here, but what I truly want to say about Bingqiu starts in arc 4, so if you're impatient you can scroll down. But the overview might help add context.

Jin Lan City arc is about LBH's anger at being brutally betrayed by the one person he thought he could trust. Here he tries to force answers out of SQQ, who he believes both hates him and is a hypocrite. He's driven by a desire to return to the past, but his rage and love makes his actions contradictory: on one hand he tries to win SQQ's approval constructively, by climbing to the top of Huan Hua Palace and performing good deeds, on the other hand his belief that SQQ doesn't care about him so it's all futile anyway (reinforced by SQQ's own actions) causes him to lash out destructively, going as far as to hurt and imprison SQQ.

LBH's bitterness is portrayed very negatively, because all it does is instill despair into SQQ, until SQQ ends up believing that he's only been a blight on LBH's life, and that he must make up for it by killing himself. Whereupon LBH breaks down, regressing into a childlike state. Some might ask, why does LBH never bring up the Abyss again afterwards? It's because he gives up here. This entire arc is about getting LBH to let go of past wrongs and to stop seeking answers, whether the reader believes it's fair to him or not. Because SQQ's life is more important.

Post-revival arc then is about SQQ trying to come to terms with a blackened LBH who also loves him. Interestingly, despite SQQ's horror at realizing LBH was romantically interested in him all along, SQQ actually has a very subtle but telling secondary reaction. To explain, let's back up to the first arc.

Starting around ch 9, probably as a sign of his growing affection, SQQ begins addressing LBH as 这孩子, or "this child," in his internal monologue, instead of LBH's name. He does it once each in ch 9, 12, 17, 21, 25. However, once Jin Lan City arc starts, SQQ drops the address entirely. LBH and "child" are never brought up together except for one snarky comment on LBH's tantrum being disgracefully childish in ch 38.

At first glance this doesn't look noteworthy because LBH by this point is no longer a kid. But when LBH kisses him in ch 49, SQQ changes again: right away he returns to using "child" on LBH, and the "this child" address starts popping up at a much higher frequency. By the end of SV SQQ has referred to LBH as a child in some manner at least 35 times (yes I went and counted), with the vast majority after ch 49, and he continues to do so right into the last extra.

Why was SQQ unwilling to use this address of affection for over 20 chapters? Perhaps because he too thought LBH hated him, and couldn't bear to think about him so intimately knowing that. So SQQ immediately falling back into it the moment he learns LBH loves him is a sign of his relief. He's still dismayed at the romantic part, but though SQQ likes to deflect from his real emotions (this is the guy who focused on bad naming sense after being fatally poisoned, who cavalierly commented only after it was all over that he'd expected to die), the fact that LBH loves and doesn't hate him, means a lot.

Here SQQ's feelings towards LBH are at their most complicated. He still assumes the worst of him like in Jin Lan City, but now because of the above, also sees a lonely child whenever LBH is unhappy and lost. It's like he has two filters actively interfering with each other, "crazed criminal" and "pitiful child," and so he flip-flops between pushing LBH away and comforting him. But when LBH drags CQMS into it, and even seemingly takes advantage of SQQ's love for him, SQQ's negative image and frustration with him only grows, until he finally snaps and tells LBH to never come near him again.

At this point SQQ still believes that LBH is the same black-hearted, invincible, devil incarnate that og!LBH was portrayed to be. The Reconciliation arc starts by chipping away at this filter that's been plaguing SQQ for so long. First the revelation that TLJ/ZZL was behind the sowers, thus clearing LBH's name at Jin Lan City. Then we see how unloved he is by his own father; we see him injured and helpless and unconscious. Meng Mo yells at SQQ, reinforcing that image of a vulnerable, terrified child. So by ch 62 SQQ has thrown away the "crazed criminal" filter completely, and in that same chapter they cling to each other and finally make up. Because while it's true that the current LBH is misanthropic, antisocial, and mercurial, SQQ has also finally accepted that he's still the same LBH he'd raised and doted on, back on Qing Jing Peak.

Now I'm going to talk about what I see as the most important part of Bingqiu. Yes, despite the wall of text already.

A common sentiment of Bingqiu shippers about their issues seems to be, "SQQ is dumb and oblivious; he can't figure out what LBH needs even though he loves him because he sees LBH as a novel character," but I think the problem is far more complicated and insidious than that. If that was everything, why give SQQ the epiphany that he misunderstood LBH so early? Why have him think in ch 66 that "truthfully, he'd never really trusted Luo Binghe, and that's why he kept accidentally hurting him?" If he's already realized that he shouldn't treat LBH like og!LBH (he even meets og!LBH in ch 71 to rub it in further), why do we go another 13 chapters believing their relationship is good and well, even giving us a sweet, happy moment in ch 75, only to show LBH having the worst breakdown of the novel just 4 chapters later? Was it all just padding to demonstrate the danger of Xin Mo?

Or is there something else beneath the surface?

In ch 66, the same chapter where SQQ implies he doesn't want to accidentally hurt LBH anymore, he says something telling. When LQG is skeptical that LBH can be trusted, SQQ thinks, 家里孩子不懂事，大人不容易做, or "when your child doesn't know any better, as the adult you don't have it easy." The child here of course refers to LBH, and the adult is SQQ, who's complaining about smoothing over LBH's messes. But what is SQQ implying here?

Doesn't know any better? That's what you say about a toddler who can't think for themselves, not a grown man. LBH is 25 and SQQ thinks he doesn't know better. Doesn't know better about what? LBH's wants, his needs? His feelings? Or even what's good for him?

And then you realize that's exactly how SQQ's always treated him, like a helpless child who can't make his own choices.

It's SQQ who chooses to throw LBH down into the Abyss without trying to talk to him. It's SQQ who decides that keeping silent is the best choice. It's SQQ who believes self-destructing in front of LBH will help, who thinks that breaking off their relationship is for the better. And it's SQQ who scolds LBH into tolerating CQMS, even though they hate each other and CQMS is hostile towards him. Who forces him to leave first at Zhao Hua Temple despite LBH's pleas otherwise, who shoos him out the window when CQMS walks in on them.

Every single one of these decisions, SQQ made believing it was for the best (repair LBH's relationship with his family, help him avoid arrest, not wanting to make excuses, wanting LBH to be free of his hatred), and every single one of them only damaged LBH further. Because SQQ's never listened to him, even once. Never consulted him or considered his feelings.

(And LBH did try to bring up his feelings on one of the matters in ch 75. He insinuates to SQQ that he doesn't like LQG calling him "little beast" or "ingrate." And SQQ's response is to dismiss them entirely, saying that LQG's "not wrong.")

SQQ has always loved LBH, but he's never once respected LBH's agency or personhood. Because LBH doesn't know better and SQQ does, so SQQ must make all his decisions for him.

And this, amplified by Xin Mo, is what finally drives LBH mad in ch 79.

To LBH, the important part isn't whether SQQ loves him, which I think he knew after ch 43 (it's why he can be so daring and pushy with SQQ's boundaries). What's important is that the moment SQQ believes abandoning LBH is justified for whatever reason again, SQQ absolutely will.

Ch 80's two-way noncon (since LBH was basically unconscious and couldn't consent) tends to draw most of the attention, but I actually think that what happens afterwards is one of the most important scenes for Bingqiu. There SQQ tries to sacrifice himself a second time for LBH, drawing Xin Mo's demonic qi into his body. Yet the novel claims that SQQ's actions here are completely different than in ch 43. SQQ himself says that this time he's doing it for LBH, while last time he was doing it for himself. But can the reader see a functional difference?

There is one, in fact: it's SQQ's response to LBH's choice afterwards. LBH decides to follow SQQ in death, even though this would void the point of SQQ's sacrifice. But instead of insisting otherwise, SQQ just accepts it. Because he finally understands that whether LBH's life is worth living, whether LBH will be better off, is for LBH and only LBH to decide.

It's the first time he respects LBH's agency. And this is the only reason why he and LBH can finally begin building a healthy relationship on the mess they've had up to now.

So that's what I see as the true beauty behind Bingqiu. It's about communication and mistaken assumptions, yes, but it's also about the nature of love between parent and child. The romantic developments were left to the extras, I believe, because this was the main story MXTX wanted to tell with them. Their relationship as lovers only starts afterwards, hence why SV ends with, "the story between you and I, has only just begun." It was never meant to be a whirlwind romance where they fall in love cleanly. It might not to be to everyone's tastes, but an incredible amount of thought was put into the narrative, and that's what amazed me when I first finished this novel.

(This post went on way too long and I ended up cutting off a huge chunk of tangential stuff and how SQQ came to his realization in ch 79: he didn't do it alone. It took him seeing the LBH in TLJ and the himself in YQY for him to understand. In fact, YQY and og!SQQ's relationship has a similar parent-and-child dynamic. I've touched on it before on twitter; if there's interest I might try writing that up here too.)

#scum villain #svsss #scum villain's self saving system #sv meta #spoilers #fae's meta #translation notes

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