#i don't know what would have happened... lots of options... hm

[pocketramblr]

Thinking about how in Deliberately Designed what might've happens if AFO never interfered in the pregnancy and suddenly Shoto comes out looking way too differently for anyone to ignore and what consequences would have entailed after....

Without his interference, Shoto would have had his purple eyes, which would be weird but not suspicious, i think, given parents with grey and blue. also, just all white hair. little weird but Enji would probably just assume he takes after his mother.... until his quirk comes in of course, and even if its like a fusion quirk where he can 'steal' and 'give' 'coldness/ice'... so like, absorbing and releasing temperature and moisture, and that could just be an offshoot of fire and ice but... its not as straightforward as the twin's quirks, and is weird enough you'd probably want some specialized tests to get an idea of what you're looking for for training, and then... well its not gonna take long to realize some things Do Not match up, and then, oh.............................

yeah the Consequences would be something alright. because i don't even know how Enji or Rei would react. could the realization that he drove his family so far away from him jolt Enji into character development? would he want to avoid any publicity about the affair or a potential divorce he just decides they'd keep it quiet and continue on like it'd never happened, almost never speaking to Rei and certainly not speaking to Shoto? Would he feel betrayed or humiliated, and want them gone regardless of anything else? Would Rei call Hajime and tell him what they found, figuring he deserves the truth and a chance to have an input? That feels like her. Because if Rei left, i don't think Hajime would want her to move in with him, both because he isn't prepared to have a separate space away from villainy and because he knows she literally just was stuck in a marriage with the children and he wouldn't be eager to repeat that, sticking her to him via Shoto (both because he'd rather not be similar to endeavor, and also because clearly that isn't strong enough loyalty the first time.) But would he want his son? he seemed perfectly happy to let Enji and Rei keep Shoto when he knew earlier? I guess it'd depend on how useful it seemed to him. lots of questions. one things for sure- if Enji tried to replace Rei / Shoto, either by having another kid with Rei, having another kid with someone else to pretend was Rei's kid, or remarrying, 9 to 1 the odds are that Touya would try to kill the replacement kid and possibly also their mother, Rei or otherwise. he'd hate a replacement and he'd hate his mother for doing something he perceives as making Enji think worse of him by comparison (even tho Touya is literally not being thought of at all in this situation). so. that'd be a wild time.

[thechekhov]

Dungeon Meshi Quick Reacts

CH.30 (Good Medicine)

I kind of assumed that things would get worse from here...

...yeah, there's no 'but' to that. Getting Falin back so quick was too good to be true.

Aren't those the ghosts Falin talked to? They could be friendly.

"ee gads! a hairless little man!" I'd be frightened too if Chillchuck was suddenly behind a door I'd just opened.

Chillchuck, buddy, less than 24 hours ago you threw a knife directly into a dragon's eye. You can take care of some worgs, right?

Senshi's a card carrying member of the smells-okay-to-me-chief club.

Orcs be like 'oh, dragon's gone? Hm. Curious' and then just carry on. Wouldn't you be worried that something took out the dragon? Could be even more dangerous than the dragon itself.

I feel like at this point Falin might be just that.

MOUTH TO MOUTH RESUSCITATION!

Marcille, I don't think you have a lot of options.

......just realized those moose antlers are holding up her rack. Talk about a pushup bra. Damn. Respect.

Wait go back to that "create monsters to do their bidding" thing again. Was that the little mini dragons or does that include larger monsters like the dragon itself?!

OR something that was IN the dragon, controlling its actions and make it act irrationally? Is that why the Sorcerer wasn't surprised to see Falin as a separate thing outside the dragon? Was the assumption that whatever THING it was had escaped and become Falin?

And for all we know... it kinda had. It had merged with her spirit....

Or maybe I'm way off.

Congrats on the larger story plot! :D You're now in even more danger! Hoorah!

Chillchuck, a normal person would just go 'I'm leaving, pay me'. You're giving yourself away, worrying for them.

I can't hate him for the reasoning here. The deeper you go, the less likely you are to be found. The only person who cares enough about Marcille and Laios and Chillchuck to find their bodies are.... each other. So if they're dead here, they're likely dead-dead.

I want to nestle into her bosom and live there as a little creature.

Moreso than when she was literally in the gullet of a red dragon?! Come on, be reasonable. At least she's alive now. And remembers who she is.

Ooooh friendly ghosts. Makes sense why Falin was so chill about them.

All the more reason to believe there's something to be done!

Love the doggo yawning behind Chillchuck.

He's a coward, but being afraid isn't necessarily a sign of weakness. It's a sign that you realize how dangerous a situation is. Cowardice isn't stupidity, no more than ignorance of danger is bravery.. I think the orc leader is maybe realizing he's not doing it for completely selfish reasons. Mad respect to her though.

It WAS Falin, wasn't it? It wasn't as if it was a thing pretending to be her. She was there, and she was revived successfully, and then the soul confusion thing happened.

......damn. What a small holiday they got, before the next horrible thing happened...

hey, Marcille is not dumb! She's got loads of braincells! they're just all focused on doing evil stuff and being gay.

🎯

That's right! It's just like you, Chillchuck!

Was that... there before?

Oh, okay, no, it was. Hm.......

This stupid man is about to full a Falin and jump out a window to go look for her, isn't he.

Gods, this sucks for him so much. For all of them. Because they.... they WERE successful! They rescued Falin! They brought her back from the head! They DID that!

But now, instead of getting the reward of it, she's just gone. Is it better, because she's alive?

Or worse, because the threat is even more nebulous?

If they all died, would it be worth it?

who's the coward...? he's ready to go back.

For Falin, they went down there. They risked themselves.

For them, after talking to him only a bit, the orc leader went from 'hey, nice snack for my dog' to 'we're helping you get that girl back'.

It's about the CONNECTION!!! IT'S ABOUT HELPING EACH OTHER AFTER LEARNING TO UNDERSTAND ONE ANOTHER!!!

[midnight-mourning]

DCA Promptober Day 13: Night

This, was a lot of fun. I told the moon lovers they'd get their juice, and I held up my promise. So, come get y'alls juice. Also MAN did this get long, didn't realize it until I went to check it for errors

Word count: 1003

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

Something's been watching you at night. 

You had assumed it was the neighbor's cat. Usually, that seemed to be the case. But even when Bojangles would come up to you, having scaled your garden wall, and then pitter-pattered his way across your roof-you spent a lot of time out here now-there still felt like something spying on you, from beyond your line of sight. 

The back of your property borders the woods, it's expected that there's something out there. You just don't know why it's all of the sudden started watching you. As opposed to say, normal animal things. 

It's been a few months now. And you wouldn't necessarily say it's bothering you, rather, you're just curious as to why this is happening. Thought you can't deny, it's a bit unnerving. 

You'd been sitting out on your roof like this, pretty much since you lost your old job. Though, really it was more that your place of work burnt to the ground and thus, you were left without a job as a result. 

It wasn't just the job you'd lost, a bitter and wounded part of you whispers. It'd been a lot more, than just some stupid job.

"Which do you think is better?" You ask, showcasing the two different glow in the dark clip-on earrings you were wearing.

Moon's faceplate spins in thought, "Why not both?"

"Hm, I suppose that's an option. Your opinion has been duly noted."

He chuckles, "You're taking this very seriously aren't you?"

"Of course!" You go back to digging through your box of supplies, pulling out more decorations, "A kid asking for a glow in the dark birthday party? With you? Everything has to be perfect."

You feel a presence hovering over you. Glancing up you see the red-eyed bot staring down at you. Before he can react, you slap a glowing sticker on his chest.

He looks down at it, then back up to you. 

You tip your chin up, "Personally, I don't think you're taking it seriously enough."

"Oh?" He bends down, "Is that what you think?"

"It is. I mean, this is so exciting! And yet, here you are, as low energy as ever. Course you're always low energy so I suppose I can't-"

Moon's arms wrap around you, pressing his forehead to yours, "I'll admit, I'm a bit distracted at the moment. Perhaps you could remedy that?"

You frown, "Now Moon, you wouldn't be pretending to be uninvolved as a tactic for affection, would you?"

"Never," He rasps.

You give a kiss to his smile, "I didn't think so."

The memory is interrupted by a noise out in the woods. You wipe your eyes with a sniffle, watching, looking to see if there's anything different this time compared to all the others. 

There is. 

Out, past your wall, just beyond the edge of the tree line, where the light of the moon can't quite reach, there's a figure.

You feel a sense of alarm at this. And when you realize just how tall they are, your sense of dread grows.

You can't make yourself move, it's like you're frozen by their gaze. Your heart starts to race in your chest as you quickly run out of rationality regarding what is out there watching you.

A bump to your right arm and small mewl breaks your free. 

Looking down, you find Bojangles rubbing up against you, desiring pets. You find it in you to huff a quiet laugh, smiling slightly as you reach down and pet him. It helps you gain the nerve to look back at the figure again.

They're gone.

Thump.

You jump, and Bojangles quickly scurries away from you, across the roof in the opposite direction of the noise. Slowly, you turn to face is yourself, somehow already knowing what awaits you. 

A giant figure casts a shadow over your roof. The moonlight behind them causes any/all of their features to be indistinguishable. The only thought that comes to your mind is mechanical. Ragged and mechanical.

There's a few clicks that emit from their body as they tilt their head. That, and the sound of…

Bells?

A step closer. You twist to fully face them, unsure what to do. Another step. There's all sorts of noises coming from this machine's? broken body. Creaks and groans, clicks and whirls, and of course, bells. They sound, wrong. Hollow. 

Lonely. 

Your eyes dart to your open window, to the ground, back to the figure again. Your time is running out, better make a choice before-

You recognize that ruby red glow. You know that star-filled night cap. And you definitely know how that sticker got on his chest.

"Moon?" You ask. 

The figure stops. Now only several feet from you. His faceplate twists again. 

You reach a hand out, only to retract it, "I, I don't understand. They said, they said nothing survived the fire. How did you make it out?"

No answer. His fingers tap against his torn pants. Which, looking closer you can see some of them have lost their casing, only the metal endoskeleton remains.

"You know what, it doesn't matter," You shake your head, tears welling up again as you start to smile, "We'll get this figured out. I'm just so glad that you're okay."

Moon takes another step. For some reason, you no longer feel at ease. You watch as that broken hand taps its fingers against itself. Clinking against each other. Seeing how they glint in the low light you realize just how sharp they are.

He comes to a stop in front of you, you can only make out his eyes still. You don't move.

"Moon-man?" You ask again, a bit softer this time.

"It's past your bedtime."

You no longer feel relief. 

You no longer feel safe.

But still, you try. You swallow, "You um, you know it's me, right?"

His eyes crinkle as he chuckles. It's not the laugh you remember. It's, downright sinister.

Too little too late you watch that clawed hand raise.

"Nighty-night~"

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

I think Bojangles is a really good cat name. Yeah, pretty sure that's all I have to say. My promptober masterlist is here, thanks for reading!

[3vergr3en]

It'll only hurt a little 🩹

(🔧) PAIRING . Dean Winchester x f!reader

(📞) A/N . guys, I'm back 🥳 ik y'all missed me !!

(🔦) ADDITIONAL INFO . in here, dean is a fean. he's disgustingly horny. mutual pinning between dean & reader! Reader cares a lot for Dean while he's too busy thinking about you in ways that only appear in his (wet) dreams.

A guttural hiss slips out the man's mouth as you (try to) gently tap some ointment onto a gash along his hairline. "Fuck." He tries to keep his hands at his sides, but it's tricky when you keep digging the cloth into his wound. "Can’t you be any gentler?" It's as if you want him to be in pain.

Okay, that may be your intention. Cause for a grown man like himself, he sure doesn't know how much of a child he really is.

"I don't know. Maybe once you stop being stupid." You shot back, emphasizing the last word with a poke to his head.

He winces, a hand snapping up to grip your wrist, halting you from doing any more poking. "Fuck! Can you stop that?" He demands, glaring up at you. "You could've died tonight, Dean," you state, yanking back your hand. "God knows what could’ve happened if Sam and I were five seconds late?" Upon receiving a lack of response, you could only sigh at him.

"You're really fucking stubborn sometimes, Dean. It's enough to get you killed! Just like tonight. Do you understand what I'm telling you-"

He wishes he could listen to you. He really does. And it pains him that he's not, you deserve to be taken seriously. And every other day, he would let you talk his ear off. But he's a man, and a man has urges—he tells himself. Sometimes those urges blinds a man of his decision-making, and right now, he can't decide whether he should respect your wishes and listen to what you have to say, or,,, bend you over the table and just fuck that little attitude out of you.

And right now, option 2 sounds more to his liking.

He knows you've been feeling a little frustrated. Like when you started averting your face when he tried his advances on you. Or how you'd give him a hard (😉) time during hunting by 'accidentally' grazing your ass against his groin whenever passing by. Perhaps you guys have been a bit deprived of each other. The countless nights when Dean had woken up with a raging hard-on or fisted his cock to you, who slept soundlessly beside him. He knows you've also missed him. You and him are so alike. It's why he has such a fond over you. And it's how he knows why you're doing this.

"You can't just be running into the middle of a fight, you can get seriously hurt." You dab some more ointment around the wound, carefully avoiding the cut. A strong, secure hold around your waist prevents you from moving away, "You care about me a lot, don'cha." He smirks almost cockily. fucking prick.

"Go fuck yourself."

"Hm, but I think I'll enjoy fucking you more."

Your breath hitches in your throat when he stands up, his broad frame towering over you. Your hands push against his firm chest, "Wait, Dean. What if Sam-" He capture your lips into a heated kiss, swallowing your words. But he pulls away momentarily to whisper against your lips, "He won't."

.

"Fuck, Dean!" You could only moan his name when he's pushing several inches into your cunt, thumb rubbing short, but fast circles on your puffy clit to help you stretch around his girth. His groans were so low, yet so arousing. Your knuckles turn white as your grip on the table tightens.

He chuckles through his teeth, "Has my girl missed my cock?" He emphasizes with a sharp thrust that has you reeling.

"Yes! my god, yes.."

He finds this so amusing. "So much that you had to go and act like a slut?"

You nod mindlessly, body twitching as the head of his cock prods at the opening of your cervix. He pulls you up with a hand around your throat, your bare back pressed against his chest. "Words, baby." He grunts deep into your ear as he rolls his hips.

His thrusts were precise, slamming into that one spot repeatedly. "Fuck, yes!" You mewl, pupils blown out wide that it nearly covers your iris. Your head hung low, swaying back and forth, matching the rhythm of his thrusts.

Next thing you know, you're laying on a mattress with your knees pushed up to your chest, eyes glued down to the sight of Dean's cock disappearing in between your glistening folds. "Fuckin' pussy's made to take my cock." He curses, leaning down to kiss the corner of your mouth.

"Fuck, you feel so-" He moans, hips stuttering against your ass, "you're gon' make me cum." It's almost too much for him to handle. Key word, almost. His head is spinning, like he's high off of you. You're addicting, why do you think he always wants to be inside you 24/7.

He feels you clamping down on him, a sensation that's all too familiar. "I can feel you squeezing me, princess. Why don't you come around my cock? Make a mess of yourself."

Just like that, your vision goes white as you succumb to your pleasure with a cry of Dean's name. And he follows immediately after you, spilling his seed all over your pretty cunt, painting it in white.

[songmingisthighs]

Wanbelyn

introduction pt. i | pt. ii | pt. iii

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ch. xxii - that's so gay

neurosurgeon!hongjoong × reader

buy me coffee ?

where love and peace is held, i never expected for this to happen. i planned and i planned, i expected, and i hoped, but it was never you. you held what i wanted hostage to make room for you, the thing that i needed but has no means of acceptance. deny me, live your best life.

From the moment you and Kijoong stepped into the gym, Kijoong immediately tried to run away from you to try one of the gym equipments. You had to wrangle the boy into your arms as you gave the front desk your information and told him that you had an appointment with the owner's son. It didn't help that the front desk dudebro was staring at you like a piece of meat.

A gym rat milf enthusiast. Original.

"Hi!"

You turned your head to the source of the voice and was met with a guy in black t-shirt and sweatpants that looked like he just stepped off a calvin klein photoshoot. Honestly, it made you blush a little but you did your best to not appear flustered, standing up with Kijoong in your arms with a smile on your face. "Hi, you must be Stan!" You said, making San crack a grin and chuckle slightly, "Actually, it's San," bending down slightly, he locked eyes with Kijoong who was looking at him curiously, "And you must be Kijoong! Uncle Wooyoung told me a lot about you!" Hearing the familiar name, Kijoong straightened up, "You know Woo?" He asked in squeak, "Of course I do! He told me your nanny here wanted you to try some classes, huh? Why don't we go check them out, does that sound good?"

Kijoong looked between San and you, unsure how to answer. But you shrugged, "It's up to you bud," you encouraged. "Well maybe you don't know what classes we have. Currently for kids, we have classes in gymnastics, tumbling, and a couple of martial arts classes," San explained, trying to offer options to aid the boy in his dilemma. You cringed at the first two ideas though, "Yeah, he's already hyper as it is, we don't wanna turn running around in the house into catapulting his body onto the wall with precision." San couldn't help but laugh at your joke, finding it amusing that you were effortlessly funny. "Of course," he said after his laughter died down but letting the smile on his face remain, "Well let's have Kijoong try some classes, hm? Our kiddy Karate class is going on right now and let's see how he likes it."

While Kijoong joined the Karate class, you and San sat at the back, watching the class progressed but mostly having a nice chat.

"I have something to admit," San's voice broke your concentration from seeing Kijoong looking at you like he wanted you to hold him, "I actually recognize you. Wooyoung talks a lot about you," San said sheepishly. Your eyes widened but almost immediately it furrowed, "Wait, how much is 'a lot'? It can't be that much, right?" San took a moment to think of an answer that allows you an insight as to how often Wooyoung talks about you. "Well, I know you both met because he got into an argument with your cousin, Jongho when Jongho moved into his dorm complex in college his second year and you had dragged them out of their stupid, petty feud literally to the lobby and force them to apologize to each other in public," San answered after contemplating. You couldn't help but feel a little impressed at his knowledge but also confused as to why Wooyoung would share about you and your cousin. "Okay that means he talks about me quite a lot," you chuckled.

Conversation with San flowed rather smoothly and you found yourself talking about choice of career path and even telling him about how you ended up being Kijoong's nanny all the while making sure the boy was still listening to the instructor up front. The conversation started with your college days and his and he talked about how he ended up managing the gym with his dad which he was against of initially because he didn't want his love for exercising and taekwondo to be diminished to numbers and maintaining a brand. You were rather impressed with how he pitched the kiddy classes to his dad and had to convince him for 3 months straight before he said yes and not a year later they expanded and moved to the current building. He has tenacity, potential, personality, and passion. You kind of saw why Wooyoung befriends him and even became roomates.

It was about fifteen minutes into the class when Kijoong came trodding with a deep pout, climbing on your lap and burrying his face on your shoulder. "I'on like this class," he whined, arms tightening and face nuzzling deep. You scoffed and tried pulling the boy back but he was clinging onto you for dear life, "Kijoong, buddy, you're not even giving this class a chance, you've been looking back at me this whole time! You can't say you don't like something when you haven't put in the effort which includes concentration like the other boys here," you sighed. Hearing your words, Kijoong pulled back and batted his eyelash at you, trying to melt your resolve but unfortunately you were not about to fall victim to his manipulation. The same can't be said about San who was wracking his brain trying to think of ways to engage the child. "You gotta try, buddy," you pointed out unwaveringly which furrowed Kijoong's eyebrows as he side-eyed San who was trying his best to not grab the boy and give him some candy. "He's a boy, why does he get to stay here and talk to you?" He scowled.

You were about to scold Kijoong when San answered without missing a beat, "Because I don't do Karate, I'm a Taekwondo athlete. Well, former." That piqued Kijoong's interest as seen from his twinkling eyes, "My uncle Bumjoong knows Taekwondo!" He exclaimed, loosening his grip on you to turn towards San, "How do you do Taekwondo?" He asked, head tilting to the side in intrigue. "Why don't I show you? My kiddy Taekwondo class is over but we can check out the classroom and try things out," he smiled at Kijoong who immediately tried to make a dash through the door but you knew better and wrap your arms around his torso. "Are you sure you can give him a private trial like that?" You weren't really worried about access as much as being a bother because he's the owner's son and he was going out of his way to show things himself. Kijoong, on the other hand, didn't care as he dangled in your arms while still trying to make his escape to check out the Taekwondo class.

San waved his hand and stood up, "Nah, I need to make sure we have enough tiles for next week's mid class practice which is for kids ages 12-16. May I?" San opened his hands in front of Kijoong, hinting that he wanted to take the boy out of your grip. You would be hesitant or even reluctant had it not been for the fact that Kijoong was trying to claw his way into San's arms and when you let go of the boy, instead of having San carry him, Kijoong grabbed San's hands and tried pulling him towards the door. TRIED being the operative word since San didn't even move an inch, only staring at the boy with amusement in his eyes.

Just as you thought they would walk out first, San (unbothered with Kijoong's attempt to drag him away) turned around and offered you a hand to help you get up which made you blush because it wasn't like you had any issue. His gentlemanly manners shone as he opened the door for you even when Kijoong was whining for him to hurry up (which earned him a light scolding for being rude) and had moved to dangling off of San's strong arm. You all but stare at how San wasn't affected at all by Kijoong's constant attempt to move him. Once again, you found yourself amused and impressed by San and you couldn't help but pat yourself on the back, feeling sure that this was going to be a good thing for him. And maybe for you.

network :

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[stellasvault]

Hello!!!! Can I req hobie x innocent fem reader where hobie is spending the night at her place and and the reader randomly gets up in the middle of the night at like 3am and just literally leaves and goes to the store 😭 and hobie doesn't even know so he has a whole heart attack looking for her and when he eventually finds her he's like all mad and angry since she pulled a "stunt" and maybe he even makes her cry...but eventually makes her feel better....(sorry I just love torturing myself with sad things). Well if you do write this could it be like...hm i don't know how to explain this but things were "normal" then to angst and then to fluff or comfort idrk. I really look forward to reading stuff from you!! Very excited :) have a nice night.

stop this is actually so cute 😭 also i get the whole “torturing myself with sad things” so dw! hope u enjoy <3

❣️ don’t ever do that shit again!

parings: hobie brown x innocent!fem!reader

warnings: angst to comfort, sfw, hobie is a little mean in the middle lmao

—————————————————————————

you heard hobie hum in his sleep, a deep, soothing tone.

hobie couldn’t spend time without you. it was just as simple as that. so, what better way to keep you all to himself than stay the night at your place?

hobie was sprawled out on the queen-sized bed, his lips parted. his chest lifted with every relaxed breath, a steady rhythm.

you were simply observing him before you left to pick up some things from the 24/7 store. i mean, who doesn’t get midnight cravings? you were just going out for a few minutes, nothing to worry about.

you got out of your temporarily shared bed to put on a sweatshirt over your tank top, you knew to expect the rush of cold air when you went outside. leaving your bedroom, you reached for your apartment keys, knowing the store was just around the corner.

you laughed to yourself when you remembered what happened last time you went to the corner store. hobie had stole borrowed some blueberry jam, thinking it was your favorite spread, but returned it the second you found out your favorite spread was nutella. you bit your lip to keep from waking up your boyfriend, remembering the shock and regret on his face when you had said the news.

the door clicked as you locked it as down the stairs you went, on your way to the store to get some late-night snacks.

you had no idea the panic that would set in soon after.

—————————————————————————

hobie tossed and turned on his stomach in his half-awaken form, expecting a body to stop him from rolling off the bed.

his body instead fully rolled over, as he found himself now on his back, dumbfounded.

he immediately shot up, his ears ringing. what happened? did someone kidnap you and he was to busy sleeping to notice?

all the worst possibilities and situations ran through his head, each one getting even worse and more gruesome. he finally threw the bed covers of his body, only wearing a dark blue crop top and his boxers. he jumped off his side of the bed, frantic.

he briefly put on a random pair of sweatpants he found on the floor, not sure if it was yours or his. but at moment it didn’t matter, all that mattered in his mind was you.

“bloody fuckin’ hell..” he muttered to himself in fear, thinking about where on earth you could’ve disappeared to. he finally decided on running around town, every single corner of it. he didn’t even think of calling you on your cell. after all, you probably didn’t even have access to it since you randomly disappeared during the dead of night, right?

he was 100% false.

while hobie was running around the neighborhood looking like a lunatic, you were humming a tune to yourself as you browsed through different chips on the store shelf. so maybe you had spend a while looking at snacks, so what? there were a lot of options!

a sudden ding! sound rang in your ears, signaling another customer had entered the shop. this didn’t concern you in the slightest, as you resumed humming, oblivious to the fact that hobie was next to the snacks and chips aisle, making his way towards you.

“oh fuck, there you are!” his voice louder with each word, walking quickly towards you.

“hobie, what are you-“ you were cut off with an angry outburst.

“what were you even thinking? he whispered through his teeth, his hand gripping your forearm.

“oh, i was just hungry!” you explained happily, showing off your snacks.

he sighed as his grip on your forearm tightened, pulling you toward the front of the store to pay.

“go on.” hobie nodded almost silently. you paid for the food quietly, saying a ‘thank you’ to the employee before hobie pulled you away outside and letting you having.

“i can’t believe you?! are you fucking serious? do you know how dangerous it is at night? i was worried SICK.” he shouted angrily, moving his hands around frantically. “you really don’t realize how careless you can be, do you?”

you went silent, shocked at his sudden outburst. “i’m sorry..” was all you could let out. you could feel the tears stinging your eyes. a lump formed in your throat as you tried to hold back the sob that was beckoning forward. you knew if you didn’t walk away soon you would burst into tears, deciding to briskly walk past hobie in the direction towards your apartment.

hobie stiffened as you walked away. “hey! where d’ya think you’re going?” he shouted to you, but you stayed silent. if you even let one sound out, you were going to let all hell break loose.

hobie sighed before he swiftly walked back to you. “look, love. i was just upset, i swear i didn’t mean none of tha’” he explained with an almost silent voice.

you shook your head. “i get it. i shouldn’t have went out without telling you.” you looked over at him to see his face illuminated by the moonlight. you noticed you had arrived at the apartment.

“no.” hobie simply said, putting both hands on either one of your shoulders. you turned your head up to look at him, his expression filled with sincerity. “you know i didn’t mean a single word i said, right?” he asked, his voice in a higher pitch than usual. he couldn’t lose you. he wouldn’t lose you.

you stayed silent, unable to answer. you simply had nothing good to say. you had thought he meant every word, but his apology had made you doubt your thoughts.

“you’re amazing, love. don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise, yeah?” he tilted your chin up to look at him, his voice dripping with guilt. “load of shit, what i said. you’re perfect.” he smiled at the last word before planting a long kiss on your forehead, his lip ring cooling your skin.

you chuckled lightly before giving him a small smile, looking up at him.

“i think you’re pretty perfect too, hobie,” you giggled, “now let’s head to bed, i’m finished.”

—————————————————————————

this isn’t my best work i’m so sorry 😭 but i had a lot of fun writing the angst, i’ve never really wrote it at all :)

thanks for reading!! ⭐️

•🍡🍡🍡

[fisheito]

*rings the service bell* hi um i was wondering.. if there's any yakumo temperature play in here? sounds silly but i only realised after i circled the building a few times... that i haven't seen it at all. Seems to be common practice, actually- to not have it. i've visited several other buildings and there's been no sight of it.

which is... strange? if i think about it, it's surprising that i haven't encountered it yet! it sort of makes sense to have them together, you know? considering that temperature is so vital to a snake's perception of the world. and how sensitive reptiles are to temperature fluctuations.

so there's a lot of control to be had here. can you imagine controlling someone's energy level just by adjusting the thermostat? er- well, i guess we already do that. but imagine you put yakumo in an ice bath and he immediately falls asleep. brumation happens instantly now, sorry. and the only way to snap him out of it is to stick a flaming dildo up his ass

what?. no, i mean, restore his regular energy level with a soft warm-up. a heated blanket and a gentle steam. hahaha.

people plunge themselves into ice water before jumping into hot tubs and vice versa- for fun! they do this recreationally!! they call it a "spa treatment" and pay a premium for it! what's wrong with giving yakumo a spa treatment? who are we to deprive him of such sensory luxury?

i'm JUST SAYING that since he naturally gravitates toward heat, you could put him in a hurt AND comfort scenario he could be naked and cold, banished to the distant corner of the room.. but when you offer him a source of warmth, whether that be a hot rock or a warm hand or 20 lit candles suspended above him dripping wax on him at random intervals,,, wouldn't he have a tough time turning down your generosity?

i mean, he certainly would if he was tied up.

see, here's the other thing i cannot quite comprehend-- it's that--- how has a snake yokai not featured bondage scenes yet? i guess there was that one time with the.. hm. no, we shan't talk about the cellar. besides, ONLY ONE TIME is unacceptable for a sentient rope!! although yakumo would love to wrap up his prey and squeeze the cum out of em, i feel like we're missing out on a lot by not OutSnaking the Snake. tie up and restrain the Restrainer. it's just a liiiiittle step farther than putting him in a pillowcase! so mild!!!!

here's a guy who is always worried about losing control/// about being free to wreak havoc on his loved ones, despite his best intentions. so how about we give him a moment of peace? a moment where he believes he's subdued and unable to cause harm? just tie him up! keep him under TIGHT lock and key. (or some nice soft cloths for his sensitive skin, if we're being nice.) honestly, his brain will do the rest of the work. even if he's not truly incapacitated, his desire to BE So can fill the gaps in any questionable knotwork.

while he's half in the prison of his mind and half in the confines you've created for him, take some time to squeeze some whimpers out of him. although it pains me to cover up those soggy eyes, a blindfold may be an intriguing option. is yakumo the type of snake to rely on heat vision? WHY NOT FIND OUT! (if he's not terrified at his loss of sight, then i guess his pit organs are functioning . in which case, the blindfold doesn't really need to stay on. if he IS terrified and feels the loss of visuals acutely, this would be an excellent opportunity to soak in his panic. just for a bit though. we're not so cruel. guide him back with a warm touch. see? playing with fire temperature contrasts can bring such relief!)

maybe i'm getting ahead of myself. i don't expect yakumo temperature play to show up WITH bondage , why- that would be asking a lot, right?

but the basics are simple enough, yes? give the wretched creature the comforting warmth he wants, then perhaps inch closer to something bordering uncomfortable? Too Much? have him seek out what he craves, only to be burned (metaphorically and/or literally) if he indulges himself too much? oops! someone's become a slave to their senses!

i'm just saying that the sensory perception of yokai vs kink is (relatively) unknown territory. if temperature play already messes with humans, what could it possibly do to yakumo? he could experience it in facets unknown to others.-=- to levels others are incapable of appreciating---- like someone with synesthesia who can experience music with another layer of enjoyment.

if you give a snake ice cream, followed by a hot piece of meat [unknown origin], it'll really make him aware of the contrast, hmm??????

anyway. sorry about that. i'm not super clear on the specifics of it all. i just thought it peculiar that i haven't seen the yaku-hot-cold-sensitivity-finagling. out there, in here, nowhere as far as i've seen..

...or is it located in a part of the building i overlooked? if so, could you direct me there? i would really appreciate it.

if you don't have it after all, that's ok. i'll keep a careful watch now that i know what i'm looking for. maybe it's one of those things where, once i actively search for it, i'll notice it everywhere! wouldn't that be delightful!

with that, i guess i'll be on my way. thanks for your patience. yeah, i hope i find it too. have a good one!!

[retrocesosdestacion]

HOLLOW-HEARTED PHASES | daniëlle van de donk.

daniëlle van de donk x reader

genre: fluff

warnings: 🤷‍♀️

notes: written for this request.

SUMMARY: Danielle finds herself in frustration after a match. You are the only answer for her.

In a way, you are poetry material; You are full of cloudy subtleties I am willing to spend a lifetime figuring out. Words burst in your essence and you carry their dust in the pores of your ethereal individuality.

kafka.

❝ Will you tell me what happened? ❞ You don't expect Daan to be comprehensible right now. Yet it's worth a try.

❝ Nothing. It was just an misfortune. ❞ She answer in a not-so-assertive tone. It was kind of obvious how difficult it was for the Dutch woman to lie to you.

❝ It wasn't just this, you got a really bad yellow card, Liefde. ❞

Van de Donk and accident in the same situation was something common, relying on the point of view. And a lot of those times, it was funny.

She was tired, you were too; Sweating and ravenous, you too; Danielle was completely worn out from the match, and so were you. Mutually in post games, that was what made you two so close.

Playing alongside the midfielder every week managed to be entertaining, mainly due to each unusual circumstance that Danielle brought to you.

Settling such complications was your job. And at this moment was not different.

❝ At least explain it to me, please! ❞ You beg, pulling the first stool you could get and sat down in front of your partner; implying you wouldn't be leaving anytime soon until you resolved this.

❝ Do you think bumping into someone is so reckless as to get a yellow card? ❞ She started. ❝ Nowadays they are accepting anyone as a referee! ❞

She gestured every second, her dutch accent made the whole situation even funnier.

The only reaction you could have was to laugh at it all. ❝ It contigent on the intensity, actually. ❞ You say amidst giggling. ❝ And well, I know you. ❞

❝ I didn't do anything wrong! ❞ Danielle sounded like she wanted to prove a point. ❝ It’s not my fault if she unexpectedly appeared near me... ❞

❝ Okay, I take your word for it. ❞ In fact, your lips were a little erroneous, you saw how the midfielder purposely pushed the rival player at that time and could uncertainly defend Daan.

She raised her eyebrows involuntarily and jiggle her face, not hiding the evidence that she didn't fall for your fallacious chit-chat.

You gradually reached for the dutch woman's hands, probing each of her fingers; then caressing them.

Suddenly Van de Donk was equal to a carefree sea; a pelago that had just experienced a storm. The midfielder's eyes were devoted to yours, glinting more and more with each passing second.

Even though Danielle always left in a temper after incidents like this, you had the unparalleled ability to alleviate her. Whether just with your presence or caresses.

❝ How about… Next time you bump into someone more carefully, hm? ❞ You muttered, bringing your face inches closer to the midfielder. ❝ Or better yet, not bumping into the person is also a great option! ❞

Your thumbs slowly slid over the skin of other woman’s fingers, trying to comfort her while at the same time considering a clarification for all of this.

❝ In conclusion, not retaliating to a provocation is what you're telling me. ❞ Danielle articulated calmly.

❝ ...Yeah, almost that. ❞ You replied, withdrawn from your previous speech. ❝And also, you’ve been a lot… ❞

❝ Stressed? ❞ She concluded by cutting off your words, even though she was aware that such emotion was not true.

❝ I wasn't going to say that. ❞

❝ Yes, you would. ❞

You took a while to answer, since deep down it was more of a truth.

❝ No… I was going to say that you have been very frustrated and nervous lately. ❞

❝ It's the same thing. ❞ Daan had a silly smile on her face, clear how she was enjoying a game with you.

Your lips locked before commenting something, daring extra time to think of words to please her.

The palm of your left hand was the first touch to the dutch woman's face after disregarding her fingers, now giving light gentle taps. ❝ Who knows, maybe behind your little face it’s all the same! ❞

Van de Donk's fortunate laugh was delightful to hear, like a pleasant sound you rarely find amidst the chaos of an urban city; like your girlfriend.

The dutch girl got a enjoyable laugh out of your face whenever she could, and you got the occasional warm fervor. It was a cycle, and you had everything to do with it.

❝ I'll take that as a compliment. ❞ Daan articulated happily, slowly pressing her own fingers over yours; those who were snuggled against the dutch woman's face.

❝ Better now? ❞ You ask, wondering how Danielle was calmer than before.

❝ Possibly yes. ❞ She reply, inhibited by previous actions.

The shorter woman looked down demurely. But honestly, anyone gets irritated, especially by situations like this. Daan had every right to be upset about this, after all, you would be there.

Your fingers, from both of your hands, placed themselves on the other woman's face. You compress lightly so that you could move the other person's face closer to you.

Danielle had her typical confused look, but also aware of the affectionate attitude. A short beam shines on your face, accompanied by a pleasant chuckle before your lips touch the other person's skin.

You placed a short peck on the tip of the dutch woman's nose, immediately going to her lips, giving her another peck. Centimeters away from the other person's face, being able to even feel de Donk's warm and agitated breath.

❝ If that's okay, how about we get together with the girls, then we go out for drinks and find something to eat. ❞ You murmur after the affectionate act.

❝ If you say so… We can. ❞ Daan answer, sounding like she's still trying to recover from the affection; with the silly smile printed on her face. ❝ To be honest, I'm hungry. ❞

One or twenty years can pass, the dutch woman always becomes the silliest person in the world when she receives your affection.

❝ How about that new restaurant that just opened? ❞ You make a suggestion. ❝ Vanessa felt like eating pasta these days! ❞

Despite Van de Donk being a difficult woman to deal with on the pitch, off there and for you, it was like an easy puzzle to put together.

Danielle could stress a thousand times, but you would always get her back no matter what.

❝ Sounds fun! ❞ She responds one last time before gradually rising from the bench where she was sitting.

The midfielder pulled your hands, so she could help you when you got up. It didn't take long for you to act and do the same, even though you were extremely tired.

Daan still had her index fingers intertwined with yours, her eyes needed to make minimal effort when looking up, where she could look affectionately at you.

She took a while to say something, and honestly, Danielle's eyes darted to your face and without saying anything made you a little nervous.

You gave a confused grin.

❝ Thank you for that. ❞ Van de Donk mutters.

❝ …For what, exactly? ❞

❝ For being with me, by my side. I don't know how I would react to things without you. ❞ She articulates through the small laughs she lets out.

Without realizing it, your confused smile became happy, small compliments coming from your girlfriend were a relief; a victory.

Your silly smirk that burned your cheeks didn't allow you to answer, but made you act embarrassed. Your lefty raised up, so you could try to camouflage this stupid smile.

❝ Why are you smiling so much?! ❞ Daan chortled, tilting her head confusedly to the side.

❝ Nothing, nothing. ❞

ᅠ

[bibibbon]

Ok a question center about Izu, in a way. Hm, ok let me gather my thought:

Mirio is either stupid or naive? I ask this bc well nighteye was a miserable bitch against Izu for no reason but petty. Is Mirio aware Nighteye is a creep or ...nighteye fake around mirio?

Now to Izu...I think I'm the only one who can see this but...Izu getting the quirk, ofa, is now a mean spirit joke. "Huh?what you mean?"

Mirio is the perfect candidate for ofa. He has a good grasp on his quirk, he knows how to act and is a mini am. He could fill the gap right away and AM was in a hurray.

Why pick Izu?

"he saved PoS" which ok...but is that enough to grant him a special quirk? No discussing or get to know Izu? Am doesn't know this kid...for all he knows Izu could have used ofa for evil.

To me, the way I see it. Izu got the quirk bc am is stubborn and nighteye was a mega creep.

Like Mirio was a perfect option for ofa. Why Izu? Not asking this to shit on him (I'm not Hori) but while Izu does work to make this quirk his...AM was putting pressure...he needs Izu to be the symbol of peace in a second.

Mirio already was a symbol or coming closer. Why not him?

What makes Izu special of ofa? It's bc am picked him and it's a good reason if we saw why am picked him. Am picked him way too quick.

One good and frankly suicidal mission was enough to make him his heir. Why? We will never know.

Again, not shitting on Izu. I wanted to see a reason as why Izu is worthy of ofa. But we don't. The relationship of am and Izu is ...no. Existent. Really make me think he picked Izu too quick and if nighteye wasn't himself...the ofa would go to Mirio.

Hi @mikeellee 👋 sorry for not answering this sooner!

Hmm interesting I would say mirio is naive with a dash of biases. Let me explain, what I mean is that Mirio believes that nighteye wouldn't do such a thing especially if it's towards someone he thinks is a friend. Mirio and nighteyes relationship is what I like to describe what nighteye wanted his relationship to be with all might in a way.

I don't think that Mirio is aware of nighteye's creepy behaviour as canon never alludes or implies it at all and Mirio someone who has a strong sense of righteousness and would probably be very irked if he found out about nighteye.

My theory is that due to all mights and nighteye's strained relationship all might didn't trust nighteye's input or decision so he may of left Mirio getting OFA as a last resort type of thing. However, you are right Mirio is basically perfect for the role especially if they wanted another mini all might in a hugely short span of time but I think the message was supposed to be that with society changing that another all might may actually harm society a lot more than do good for it. Now I think that if horikoshi actually allowed Izuku's character to go through proper development that izuku would be perfect in delivering that message however this idea doesn't hold much weight after Izuku's fight with shigaraki that parallels all mights kamino fight.

Also maybe Izuku reminded all might of himself so that's why he picked him. In reality how would all might really know that though??!?! All might and izuku bonding time is basically non existent in the manga or anime their relationship is also non existent. All might doesn't know much about izuku and neither does izuku. All might is a bad mentor and it's never brought up or used as a point to develop him and his relationship with Izuku.

Iam not sure what's so special about izuku for all might to pick him or why all might never picked Mirio. I remember a few years ago I saw a video talking about how in the overhaul arc we never actually got proof as to why izuku is the better candidate for OFA and i have to actually agree. Izuku never ended up differentiating himself from Mirio and frankly we don't even have any logical reasoning from all might as to why it was izuku himself. Or it's how he broke the bystander effect and wanted to help bakugo even though he couldn't do anything that maybe inspired him to help this kids dream of becoming a hero become a reality but oh well I guess we will never know the true answer.

[byte-your-tongue]

could u mayhaps do deep cut x autistic reader :3

Deep Cut x Autistic Reader

(Platonic, GN Reader)

AN: this is SUCH a good one. very blessed thank u very much anon for my request!! <3 As usual this was written platonic(since no relationship was specified) but could be read romantic if ya squint.

Shiver is 100% autistic as well if you ask me. BUT she was taught from a very young age how to act "proper" and how to deal with people so she can mask very well.

I don't think she would fully realize it until later in life but she eventually does and kinda goes "wait i can't be because- wait... maybe.. i- .... hm.. that... that would explain some things..."

Frye is AuDHD and has been aware since she was tiny.

Big Man i think could also be some form of neurodivergent.

Anyway. what i'm getting at here is that none of them would judge you and they instead would get along very well with you!

If you stim, don't even worry about any of them looking at you weird or asking you questions. They wouldn't even acknowledge it as anything out of the ordinary.

If you are stimming physically Frye might even end up copying you! She moves around a lot to stim and she especially likes rocking side to side and waving her hands.

If you stim vocally you can sometimes catch Shiver repeating you or picking certain stims from you.

If you have stim toys expect the rest of Deep Cut to take an interest in them. They probably also have some of their own and you all can sit in a circle showing off your collections :)

If you have trouble in social situations or get nervous/awkward talking to strangers you can count on Frye and Shiver to help you out! They can be the "They asked for no pickles!" friend for you. Big Man is more likely to be just as nervous as you.....

Shiver and Frye are both confident in social situations most of the time.

Shiver is confident because she can track patterns and people very well and prides herself on basically "picking the right dialogue option" to get what she wants. But sometimes things she didn't plan for will happen and it throws her off entirely and she doesn't know what to do.

Frye is confident because she is extroverted and just likes talking to people! Plus she just doesn't care if other people find her weird or anything. She's very confident in herself and her personality, so she doesn't care if other don't like it or judge her.

So go to those two if you ever need anything :3

If you have a stuffed animal you carry around for comfort Deep Cut will love it! Big Man would ask you what it's name is and Frye would totally fawn over it. Shiver would probably be the type of person to talk to it like it's a real person and greet it formally. It's very cute watching her shake it's hand and smile at it.

If you ever want to rant about a special interest, go to Big Man. He ADORES hearing you speak. Especially if he's working on something. Explain every last detail to him. He will listen intently as you talk.

Shiver is also a pretty good choice. She will ask questions along the way and try to understand every last detail. She may even take notes about important parts so she doesn't forget them when you talk to her about it again.

Frye meanwhile is not great at sitting still and listening to you talk for long times. She will try her best but really it's best to just show her what you are interested in. If it's a show she will be 100% down to binge it with you! If it's a game let her play it. If it's a book she will ask you to read it to her. If it's something more abstract like biology or such, bring out diagrams when you talk to her about it. She does better with pictures and will listen along like a student at a lecture.

If you have food related sensory issues, don't even worry. Shiver is also somewhat picky about her food(especially texture) and she will sympathize with you and help you avoid things you won't like. Frye will eat almost anything so whatever you don't want off your plate you can always toss her way and she will gobble it all up. Big Man will help work with you to make sure you are getting proper nutrition while still enjoying your meals.

All three of them like food a lot and have traditional food from their cultures they enjoy and want to introduce to you. They will help you find things they think you would like and respect you when you say you don't want to try something!

Shiver enjoys picking out outfits for you, and she always dresses you in the softest of fabrics if you have sensory issues. You will look good AND feel good by the time she is done with you!

If structure makes you happy, spend time with Big Man. He likes to plan things out meticulously and follows it no matter what.

If you are more impulsive, Frye will be your best friend! She is the QUEEN of impulsive actions.

Having a meltdown? These three would NEVER judge you. If you cry they won't see you as "immature" or "over dramatic" and will instead work on getting you happy as fast as possible. They will help get you away from any bright lights, loud sounds, or stressful situations that caused it.

Big Man usually has headphones on him so if you need them just ask! He is always ok with letting you borrow them!

If physical touch can help sooth you then Frye is perfect. She will hug you, rub your back, run her fingers through your hair, whatever you need.

Shiver will talk to you in a calm and even voice to try and calm you down and help you focus on her rather than what is overstimulating/upsetting you.

You guys can all have fun having ND moments like "Hey look at this cool rock i found!" *all stops and stares at it* "Woah this texture is so nice, come touch it!" and "Wait what did that person mean by that? did any of y'all get it????"

Basically all in all these three are perfect. All of them are ND and will just get you. You don't have to explain things to them, there's no awkwardness, and they will never judge you.

[mooneln0ne]

LUFFY WANTS TO FLY A KITE AU QnA!!! Thank you for supporting my mini comic, as a ty I compiled a bunch of questions below.!

it’s a long one, so beware!

Q (Anonymous): What inspired you to write this comic? Outside the horrors what are you trying to tell?

A: Inspiration would probably be the frequent hallucinations I have and my longing to go back in the fields... I miss my cows 😭 As for the story i’m trying to tell.. It’s a bit hard to explain without spoiling the story….

Q: (@oddity-txt): For your kite au- what do ace and sabo see when they look at luffy?

A: Clearly something that isn't Luffy, but it looks like Luffy

Q: (Anonymous): Since Vivi is introduced would she play a key role or would she appear for like just a few parts, would she have a blog like Sabo?

A: She's important to the story!! She's child of the pastor in this au-- Sabo and Ace used to be Altar servers for his church so they have history of working with her before... As for a blog.. No not really. Though if you look close enough you'll find that you can contact Vivi just before the events of the story to pry information.. But unfortunately whatever happens to her is set in stone •ᴗ• Q: (@washingmachineonfir ): Can you elaborate in religion topic in the city? About the house, why its like this? How many kids disappear?

A: The religion in ASL's neighborhood is simple, you know it already. Now about the house? You don't wanna know. As for the kids... hm.. Depends on how many kids can fill a school bus Q: (@courtroomac3): Hi

A: Get outta here boy Q: White boy Flavor of the month...

A: idk Q: (@humoofsegsual) Is there a possible ending in which everyone dies?

A: nods nods, when that happens everything disappears . Don't forget to say goodbye before it happens!!!! Q: (@plastirk): What kinds of trigger warnings are we gonna see?

A: everything in this list

Q: (Anonymous): Why does Nika go after Ace and Sabo?

A: Because Luffy wants to be with them . But Nika doesn’t want to let go of Luffy.

Q: (Anonymous): Does Nika hate Ace and Sabo?? all their interactions with them are with malice 😭

A: I wouldn’t say malice I suppose… I’d say maybe frustration?

Q: (Anonymous): Where are other characters in this? Like Garp, Dragon, and etc

A: They’re living their normal lives somewhere else!! Koby and Helmeppo are employees at the store Sabo often goes to. Vivi is a librarian, her father is a priest in the town’s church, she met Ace and Sabo a lot because they were altar servers back then! Law is one of the brothers’ neighbors, he frequently leaves though. (Copy pasted from my discord)

Q: (Anonymous): Is it true that one of the brothers might die ☹️

A: . Yes! Im cheering for their downfall! but you guys aren’t 😞

Q: (Anonymous): Are ASL biologically related here?

A: …No

Q: (Anonymous): What does the kite have to do with this au?

A: It’s something Luffy owns!!!! Don’t worry about it too much ;]

Q: (Anonymous): Is there a symbolism with the ghost costume? It makes me wonder what was it for other than to scare A and S

A: It’s by far the biggest hint in the first part 😵‍💫 I wonder if anyone caught it at first

Q: (Anonymous): Are Luffy’s friends going to appear? (Zoro, Nami, Sanji, and Ussop?)

A: mhm! You’ll see one or two of them sooner or later

Q: (Anonymous): What wouldve happened if we chose the other option in the first two parts?

A: The first poll would’ve decided on who runs the ‘blog’ ^w^!!

the one who wasn’t pick was cursed to run a tumblr blog lmao

Last Question:

Q: (Anonymous): Why are Luffy’s friends here if Nika just wanted him?

A: Luffy treasures his friends.!!

Bonus:

Q: (Anonymous): Will Detective Chopper have the same horror elements as the Kite au?

A: Yeah, but I suppose it’s more drama oriented

[bladekindeyewear]

HS^2 bloggin’ mainline 2024-08-15 continued #2

(Previous post - current page 631)

I should keep it at three liveblog posts at most per day for pacing purposes, so however long this post ends up being (which could still be pretty long, image limit forgiving!), this'll be where I stop it for the day whatever happens so I don't push my mental energy reserves too hard. Now let's see exactly what the fuck Jane was referring to here.

(==>)

JANE: I'm referring to his death. DIRK: (Oh, what the fuck.) JANE: Not saying it's all your fault. DIRK: (Wow.)

Oh that's all SORTS of messed up for her to think.

JANE: Dirk just never *got* you. JANE: He thought he could figure you out, make all the right moves, and you'd be happy. JANE: But people have to want themselves to be happy. JANE: And the only thing you've ever consistently wanted was to be absolved. JANE: I understand that now.

She's not ENTIRELY wrong about Jake's insecurities here, but there were people constantly KNOCKING HIM DOWN by BLAMING HIM FOR THINGS that he then helplessly thought DESERVED his absolution when they were NEVER HIS FAULT, and this couldn't be a more obvious example. Which Jake might fucking recognize and snap the fuck at.

JAKE: ... And? JANE: And I accept you, Jake! JANE: That's why I have confidence our union will endure forever. JANE: You release me of all my doubts. And I can't be disappointed by you. JAKE: Huh... DIRK: (Hm.)

I think Jake isn't coming around to Jane here, really, but actually coming around to HOW FUCKED UP she is, and more importantly, HOW SHE FUCKED HIM UP. The idea that Jane Crocker, never once, actually BELIEVED in him other than believing that he would be OBLIGATED to come back to her, even if she wasn't offering really anything in return in their relationship. He finally got it through his thick head that she was always taking him for granted, isn't he? That even her deepest, most "caring" feelings left for him are pity for someone she's viewed for the longest time as incorrigibly pathetic and not useful for anything except coming back to her?

JANE: I... JANE: Oh, fucking... pixie sticks. JANE: I have to leave for the bridge. JANE: The enemy is moving into position as we speak. JAKE: Do you... JAKE: Do you still need that water tested? JANE: Haha, no. JANE: I drank it all in my hysterics without even noticing. JAKE: And youre okay? JANE: Completely fine! It really was just... water. JAKE: I had hoped! JANE: Hoo hoo, thank you. :B JANE: ...

I don't know if Jake is really feeling sympathy or negative revelation about her, here... or possibly a combination of the two.

JANE: Listen, Jake. JANE: I won't be able to really talk for some time once this whole final battle shebang kicks off, but I need you to know. JANE: I am sorry. JANE: For a lot of things. JANE: I promise. JANE: I just need you to believe in me a little while longer. JAKE: Of course janey... of course. JAKE: I... love you. JANE: I know, J. JANE: I know.

No... you finally proved to him that you're not WORTH BELIEVING IN.

That's what I think he's about to discuss with himself (and BGD).

(Jake: Calmly assess the situation.)

PFFFFF OMG AFTER THAT LINK TITLE XD

JAKE: Fuck!!! JAKE: Why did she have to go and build a moon laser!!! JAKE: Why did she have to go and JAKE: And SAY all that!!!

Hearing her open up with heartfelt feelings, towards HIM, for the first time in what feels like forever, likely has him so conflicted now even though he KNOWS what has to happen.

DIRK: It's not over. DIRK: That moon laser doesn't mean shit. JAKE: ...if theres no one to press the button? DIRK: Boom. DIRK: Or, you know. DIRK: No boom. JAKE: Her guard is down... DIRK: And you have a gun. JAKE: I have TWO guns. DIRK: Let's be real, this wouldn't even be the first time you've thought of it. JAKE: Its... an option.

He hasn't thought of going after the laser ITSELF yet, but he needs to remember he's a God-Tier Hero of Hope and that destroying a moon laser is a whole lot easier than destroying the woman he still feels something for. He'll come around in this conversation, likely.

DIRK: Or. DIRK: You help her win the battle. DIRK: Avoid baptizing the Earth with laser-fire. DIRK: And she uses The Point, and the world doesn't end. DIRK: Probably. DIRK: Who the fuck knows. JAKE: What should i do? DIRK: I'm not gonna tell you.

Even though he's talking to Dirk, he's also still in a sense only talking to himself.

JAKE: I already know youll want me to do whats heroic. JAKE: But you wouldnt want me to kill jane either. JAKE: Would you? DIRK: Stop staring at me like I'm gonna tongue-kiss the answer into you, dude. DIRK: You know what you need to do. JAKE: But jane was right about me! JAKE: I cant be trusted. JAKE: I dont even like 99% of people. DIRK: Then do it for one person. DIRK: Aren't you tired of spreading yourself thin trying to believe in everything? DIRK: Because it's looking pretty fuckin' likely that the future where Tavvy is happy and the future where Jane is alive don't coincide. DIRK: You have to kill one for the other to survive.

Now THIS is Rage talk from Dirk here. This isn't HOPE talk. Jake is going to realize that there's hope for BOTH people he cares about to survive... and all he has to do is think of flying into space and destroying a freakin' moon laser. The Page of Hope come into his role is going to be someone who can find a path of possibility that saves what they care about without Dirk's brand of brutal compromise.

JAKE: It sounds like youre gunning for her. DIRK: It sounds like *you're* gunning for her. DIRK: Say what you will about Dirk, but he always wanted you to be your best self. DIRK: He pushed you hoping if he did it hard enough, you'd push back. DIRK: That's a far cry from whatever neutered domestic purgatory Jane's offering you. DIRK: Wasn't it nice to be believed in, man? JAKE: Ugh.

Dirk was never good for him either, and didn't know the right way TO help Jake become his best self other than inflicting cuts to his soul that only delayed and decreased his capacity to believe in himself.

JAKE: Can i make an honest query? JAKE: Did i really kill him? DIRK: Hm. JAKE: I did, didnt i? DIRK: Common sense says no. JAKE: Cant you swing that one by your esoteric telepathic dirk connection? DIRK: That's a tricky fuckin' wicket, man. JAKE: Its "sticky wicket". DIRK: It's nothing, because that's a stupid fucking phrase cooked up by fake people about a fake sport from a dead planet. DIRK: Anyway, it's tricky because there's not really all that much of anything left of the big man. DIRK: Not here, anyway. JAKE: Oh, baloney! JAKE: Thats not how this works. Youre the supernatural tsaheylu of our combined "steezes". JAKE: This isnt my first ride in the rodeo, mister, I KNOW THE RHYTHM OF THIS BUCKING BRONCO. JAKE: HES STILL HERE, DAMMIT! DIRK: I'm sorry.

Given what we saw with alt!Calliope / AL splitting and reforming, it's indeed likely that he ISN'T still here, that he's practically fully consolidated himself into Ultimate Dirk aside from this leftover memory Jake is keeping just barely alive. But we also know that thanks to his narrative powers, and his immediate response in the bonus material to Yiffy's sudden existence in the (Candy) plot, that part of him is at least AWARE of that plotline and some of what's happening outside of Canon, even if he's too far away to influence it.

This is also likely about Jake accepting Dirk's death and moving on, though. Because Dirk's eliminationist "one or the other, but not both" advice and insistence on sacrifice isn't what he needs right now.

Maybe it's time for Brain Ghost Dirk to disappear?

(==>)

DIRK: He's gone, dude.

Oh damn, the eyes. It's exactly as he said: This Candy timeline's Brain Ghost Dirk was always just a part of Jake. Just the memory of his friend alive within him, him talking to himself.

Jake has to accept his friend's death to move past his brand of advice, the advice he counted on of a friend who was in ways toxic to him and couldn't lead him to true Hope.

JAKE: OH FUCK OFF. JAKE: YOU CHARLATAN. DIRK: Yeah. JAKE: HORSES ASS. DIRK: Get it all out, man. JAKE: YOU MALEVOLENT MASCULINE MALFEASANT. DIRK: I know a crisp glass of personal culpability isn't what you ordered, but hey. DIRK: It's better than relapsing.

You did pick a hell of a time to show him this, but you probably picked the right time, at least.

DIRK: It'd be the only reasonable excuse you'd have for nipping this uncomfortable epiphany in the bud so you could slink back to following orders from Dirk. JAKE: ... JAKE: Gods hooks, i backflipped right into my old ways! DIRK: Don't beat yourself up about it. It's a running theme with literally everybody we know. DIRK: You all get caught up in these feeling jams, hugging it out in self-realizational bliss. DIRK: Then, bam. DIRK: Premature ejaculation. DIRK: That passionate growth grind ends before it builds to anything actually satisfying. JAKE: :(

Jake needs to stop imagining there's someone telling him what to do anymore, and decide for himself, saying goodbye to his ghostly imaginary guide he made for himself with his powers. (Also Dirk's metaphors are always gonna Dirk, even when Jake's just imitating them.)

DIRK: You're fully dressed Jake now. DIRK: Sitting on the sticky floor of a custodial closet, hidden away from anything certain and good in this world. DIRK: Alone. JAKE: This is scary! I dont like this. DIRK: Fuck yeah it is. This is sweaty, achey, burning transformation, brother. JAKE: I want to go back! I want to be the other guy again. DIRK: You can't be the other guy anymore, Jake. DIRK: We're sending him upstate to live on a beautiful farm, where they're gonna immediately drag him out back and put him out of his fucking misery. DIRK: Remember when you told Egbert you wanted someone to hold you accountable? JAKE: No. DIRK: Well. JAKE: Nooooooo. DIRK: "Here's Johnny!" JAKE: AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! JAKE: Oh... JAKE: *sniff* JAKE: Oh, dirk...

Finally accepting his friend's death AND his need to act for himself instead of being told what to do isn't an easy thing to do all at once.

JAKE: Cripes, if there really is no magical component to all of this, JAKE: if youre really gone, JAKE: then i am simply a forty year old man... being led by the nose... by an imaginary friend. JAKE: That is not cute. DIRK: It's kind of cute. JAKE: No! JAKE: Its mental illness! DIRK: It can be both.

And you DO have literal godly magic powers helping you do it, if you've forgotten, Jake.

DIRK: Look. DIRK: What you need to do is stop sobbing into your own fucking arms and make a decision. DIRK: Spying for the rebellion, running away... these were steps in the right direction, but they also had, y'know. JAKE: Plausible deniability. DIRK: They were deflections. DIRK: And at the end of the day, that's what choosing Jane would be, too. JAKE: Its odd, but... JAKE: Shucks, i dont want to cut her down right before she makes this big turnaround. JAKE: If shed decided to keep her promise... JAKE: thatd be bitter fucking berries to live with. DIRK: But? JAKE: But she probably wont change, will she? DIRK: Why in the fuck would she? DIRK: She'll have won.

But that also doesn't mean you NEED to kill her. There's a path to Hope that you haven't seen yet and that Dirk can't help you see. (Destroy the space laser destroy the space laser destroy the space laser. FIGURE IT OUT)

(==>)

JAKE: But... i dont think she was meant to be this way. Do you? DIRK: Like, was she born to be a wildly racist dictatorial cake boss? JAKE: Ok, when you put it that way it sounds a bit bonkers. JAKE: What i mean is... JAKE: Take me, for example. JAKE: I know its not my fault janey got a bit rough and tumble with our relationship. That fundamentally, i didnt deserve it. JAKE: But that doesnt exactly make me a mensch by default, does it? JAKE: In fact i worry there might be more of me thats, well... inherently bad than not. JAKE: And thats why everything tends to get so furiously fucked all the time! JAKE: Everyone is waiting around for this better version of me to pop up, but thats never going to happen. JAKE: Because if it did, it wouldn't be me anymore. DIRK: So, are you trapped being Mr. Pissy Pantyloos Loser Man no matter what? JAKE: Sort of. JAKE: What do you think? DIRK: I don't know. DIRK: Maybe? JAKE: Oh...

You have a bit too much trauma that you haven't had any opportunity to heal from to TRULY come into your FULL potential as a Page of Hope, but that doesn't mean you still don't have a lot of power and potential you're still sitting on, only trapped by yourself and your past. All you need to think of is that one key hopeful idea and have the will to use your power for something serious, right now.

DIRK: Here's what we do know: when you face our friends tomorrow, they're gonna be none-the-wiser about the insane masturbatory matrix bullet time battles you've been having with yourself in your own head. DIRK: What will be real to them is what you DID. DIRK: That's it. DIRK: Show them you're trying. DIRK: Or don't, and get left behind. JAKE: Good god... JAKE: This is the worst pep talk... ever. DIRK: It's you, dude, what did you expect? JAKE: True.

It's not all that bad a pep talk, to be honest.

DIRK: Do you want to be left behind? JAKE: No! JAKE: I want to see tavvy grow up! JAKE: I want to choose him! JAKE: But i want to believe in jane too... DIRK: Sigh. JAKE: Listen. JAKE: I never really understood all that much of the "doomed timeline" hoopla you cerebral types tend to gab on about. JAKE: But... its nice to think that there might be countless janes somewhere out there who never stopped being happy. JAKE: Baking, getting up to all manner of lighthearted mischiefs... true blue all around. JAKE: When i think of her, thats whats real to me. JAKE: What she is now, what these rotten unenviable circumstances have made of her, its all just... DIRK: Happenstance. JAKE: Is that stupid? DIRK: Probably, but you're a god of Hope. DIRK: You're a poster-child for making stupid shit feasible. DIRK: And no one has the power to say what's true for every Jane. DIRK: I'm sure if you asked a couple of them how they feel about labor camps and domestic violences, they'd hit you with a "Woah there, buster jones." JAKE: "Thats not for me!" DIRK: "No siree!" JAKE: Hehehe. JAKE: Exactly.

I'm so glad that in some of the bonus material, Jasprosesprite^2 is playing the capricious fantasy psychologist and was on the path last i left off to helping Jane realize that there was a better answer than ruling over the planet herself-- leaving the Agency of Earth C in the hands of the children they'd raised to take it over, because Earth C is something they helped make together but not something they OWN or should command, or would be the best suited to govern.

JAKE: If i can believe in those janes, JAKE: i think i can let this one go. DIRK: Extravagant hoops to stumble through just to keep believing, man. DIRK: It's sneaky. I like it.

Oh, COME ON, can't you just fly into space and kill the Moon Laser instead? It's obvious!!! Still, big move of you (and I agree that this Jane is almost certainly too far gone).

(==>)

JAKE: Its decided then? DIRK: Seems so. DIRK: You can finally leave the closet. JAKE: Har, har.

OH COME ON DON'T JUST FLASH OVER THERE I WANT TO SEE WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON WITH YIFFY!!!!!!!!!

Also it looks like Yiffy might NOT have been setting things on fire, and that the red flashing may just have been the battle alert they received, plus Vrissy's reaction at seeing Yiffy for the first time.

JAKE: Goofs aside, old buddy... JAKE: I get the strange sense i wont be speaking with you again. DIRK: You won't. Why would you? DIRK: You're normal now. JAKE: But- DIRK: You don't need him. JAKE: It feels good to pretend, though. JAKE: To hold on a little while longer. DIRK: Don't. JAKE: Fine! Fine... JAKE: Hope is the crummiest aspect of the lot, huh. JAKE: I swear the only time its worth a lick more than delusions and hot air JAKE: is if it really fucking hurts. DIRK: Welcome to being a person, Jake English.

Hope is incredibly important if you can find a path through that nobody else can, instead of letting the breadth of possibility paralyze you with indecision. (STOP THE MOON LASER INSTEAD OF ATTACKING JANE YOU WON'T WIN THAT WAY)

(Page of Hope: Rise up.)

What a hilariously yet perfectly understated panel for that title!

(John and Vriska: Touch down.)

JOHN: whew! JOHN: that was quite the race. VRISKA: Race? VRISKA: C'mon. VRISKA: That was 8arely a warm-up! JOHN: jeez. JOHN: i guess i'm out of shape. JOHN: i didn't even know you could BE out of shape with magical floating powers... VRISKA: Well, that's what sitting around like a depressing 8oring loser for sweeps gets you! VRISKA: You'll just have to get 8ack IN shape. JOHN: man, i guess so.

If he really turned on the Windy Thing powers he probably could have blown through them and outraced her, but he'd need to believe in himself a little harder and be a bit more confident for that, and he's not QUITE there yet-- not as far gone as Jake was though.

JOHN: hey, now that i've got you here, why did you lead us directly to the meteor? JOHN: we did both kind of mutually mention that there was a transportalizer pretty much directly to the lab in roxy's house, right? VRISKA: Sure. And? JOHN: well i just think maybe it might've been a little less risky to go that way, instead of weaving through battle ships and cross fire and all that war junk. VRISKA: Less risky, may8e, 8ut also wayyyyyyyy less fun. VRISKA: C'mon, wasn't it a pretty sweet joyride? VRISKA: It's nice to give the ol' wings a stretch! JOHN: hehe, that's true.

Being like an action movie star really DOES feel fun to John, doesn't it? Makes him feel like a useful hero.

JOHN: but i think now that we're here, we should probably get inside before someone notices us. JOHN: roxy taught me a secret knock to use in times like these, she'll reco-

Wait who's going to interrupt?

(==>)

VRISKA: *KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK* VRISKA: OPEN UP!!!!!!!!

SNERK

Ah, and also they're back to being displayed like the once-children THEY viewed themselves to be, because we aren't looking up at them from one of the children's perspective.

(==>)

SOLLUX: damn dude, to0k you l0ng enough, i'm hungry as hell. SOLLUX: what'd y0u br-

SOLLUX YOU ARE BREAKING SECURITY PROTOCOL YOU ARE A HACKER YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER YOU LAZY ASS XD

(==>)

...You can't even see her, can you? Are those glasses like techno-sight thingies?

(==>)

Him too. How do you know where to look? I half swear you're hiding robot eyes.

(==>)

SOLLUX: nah.

HAHAHAHAAHAHAH

he doesn't wanna deal with Vriska and John's shit XD

(HOW IS HE SEEING THEM)

Okay time for Vriska to kick down the door (or John to Turn To Wind thing them straight through it, few doors are barriers to him if he has his God-Tier powers in mind).

(==>)

*Shared look of questioning exasperation.*

(==>)

GOSH ROXY IS THE BEST NO MATTER WHAT EXPRESSION SHE'S DRAWN WITH

ROXY: hey you 2! ROXY: sorry abt him his manners are fuckin atroche JOHN: for real. ROXY: anyway hustle up and get in before someone sees ya ROXY: also john wtf happened to the secret knock VRISKA: Yeah, John! VRISKA: What the hell! JOHN: i- ROXY: move it buster!!

Hahahahahah.

Wait, this next link-- that's right we saw THE SHIP above the meteor in an earlier frame I didn't post, this all means that the kids are ALREADY HERE!@!! (Edit from below: nope I looked again it wasn't, why did I imagine it up in the sky)

(John and Roxy: Co-parent.)

This frame isn't important and I still love it in so many different ways.

ROXY: oh the kids are safe btw JOHN: that's good! JOHN: wait, they were in danger? ROXY: yeah numbnuts in case u forgor theres a whole ass conflict goin on with kids gettin kidnapped n houses gettin targeted n shit! ROXY: our house bein one of those hice! JOHN: you never told me our house was one of those hice!

What the FUCK is a "hice"?! \*looks up...\*

"Noun. hice. (chiefly humorous, nonstandard) plural of house."

Are you fuckin serious XD

JOHN: you told me to go get vriska, which i did. VRISKA: Actually, I pretty much got myself. JOHN: fair. JOHN: but i collected her! JOHN: you didn't really say anything about harry or the other kids at all. ROXY: oh man ROXY: i guess i kinda didnt huh ROXY: ... ROXY: aw jeez JOHN: hey! JOHN: i'm sorry roxy, don't worry about it, you've got em now. ROXY: what ROXY: no i dont got em JOHN: wait, what? JOHN: then who has them!!! ROXY: rosenaya and jade picked em up while they were ROXY: um ROXY: runnin around outside unsupervised JOHN: oh. JOHN: well... that's good! ROXY: ... JOHN: ... VRISKA: Haha! You guys are terri8le guardians. ROXY: hey stfu

Okay, so (*checks*) the ship WASN'T here yet, my bad. I guess Vriska is going to engage the Plot Point device before they even get here, potentially.

JOHN: yeah, you're one to talk! JOHN: you left your own clone on her own in a dungeon! VRISKA: It wasn't a "dungeon" John, it was a high-security 8lack site! JOHN: that's basically the same thing. JOHN: if anything it sounds a lot worse! VRISKA: She could handle it. VRISKA: Unlike your lame-ass offspring who need to 8e gru8sat by an entourage of armed guards, I can tell that she's got that patented Serket panache. JOHN: technically she's a maryam-lalonde. VRISKA: Sure, whatever. VRISKA: The point is, she's a Vriska. ROXY: whatever is right VRISKA: Hurry up and walk faster!

Vriska heard the Plot Point was a superweapon and she can't wait to get some shit done with it.

(==>)

You can practically SMELL Vriska drooling at the shrouded appearance of the most plot-significant thing she's seen in this entire timeline, and she think it's a "superweapon" designed just for HER.

CALLIOPE: hello! CALLIOPE: i'm so glad yoU all made it back alright. ROXY: oh it werent no thang baby i was just answerin the door CALLIOPE: not yoU, silly! ROXY: hehe VRISKA: Ew. JOHN: (a little, right?)

SHUT THE FUCK UP they're adorable together!!! Let them be sweet on each other! D:

CALLIOPE: salUtations, vriska! CALLIOPE: i mUst say it's a pleasUre to finally make yoUr acqUaintance! VRISKA: What the hell is that thing? CALLIOPE: hee hee, gracioUs. CALLIOPE: yoU're as rUde as i imagined yoU'd be. VRISKA: Not you. I know who you are. VRISKA: *That* thing! CALLIOPE: oh! CALLIOPE: yes, that'd make sense.

Pfff.

OKAY IT'S TIME TO SEE THE DEVICE, I'M EXCITED

(==>)

SHE'S fucking adorable too! GOSH I LOVE HS^2'S ART SO MUCH.

CALLIOPE: that, my narratively significant friend, is the reason we've called yoU here!

Time for the reveal--!

(==>)

CALLIOPE: allow me to introdUce...

PULL IT BACK

The Plot Point.

THAT'S SO FUCKING COOL LOOKING

CALLIOPE: The Plot Point.

What's with the colors on the left and right though? The spirals on the dragons? It's...

OH! The left spiral is in Roxy Lalonde's God-Tier Void outfit colors and the right spiral is in Calliope style. The combination of their talents and engineering. An infinity-like sideways hourglass up top. The Rogue of Void and the Muse of Space once again combining their talents to create a miracle. I love this.

(==>)

CALLIOPE: er, technically, the machine stabilizing The Plot Point. CALLIOPE: the actUal Point is that ominoUs looking bit in the middle! VRISKA: That's it? CALLIOPE: that's it! VRISKA: It looks sort of small and shitty. CALLIOPE: it's actUally anything but! CALLIOPE: it is paradoxically massive, and incomprehensibly powerfUl! CALLIOPE: so mUch so that the fact that anybody was able to contain it at all is a miracle in and of itself. CALLIOPE: bUt as mUch as i'd like to sit here and congratUlate myself on the achievement of its stabilization, more miracUloUs still is what we intend to achieve with it.

Is it the remnants of the hole alt!Calliope / AL tore open to escape the Black Hole, is it the center OF the singularity itself, or is it an encapsulation of Paradox Space? Or multiple of the above?

CALLIOPE: and yoU, vriska, are going to be instrUmental to the sUccess of this endeavor! VRISKA: No shit! VRISKA: That's kind of my whole thing. CALLIOPE: yoU're more correct than yoU know! ^u^ CALLIOPE: as we've already explained to john, this world is cUrrently mired in a state of, well... let's call it dUbious pertinence. CALLIOPE: a- VRISKA: I fucking KNEW it!!!!!!!! VRISKA: John, didn't I tell you? VRISKA: I totally did tell him. VRISKA: I've 8een saying that this world is complete 8ogus for ages now, and no8ody's 8een listening! VRISKA: Yet here I am, right again. VRISKA: Shocker! VRISKA: You should listen to Calliope, John. VRISKA: They may have pretty weird taste in fashion, 8ut they o8viously know what they're talking about where the shitty fake shitness of this joke of a timeline is concerned. VRISKA: Clearly we need to do something. CALLIOPE: Um. CALLIOPE: that was perhaps a tad redUctive, and sort of rUde, bUt yoU're certainly correct in yoUr assessment that something has to be done aboUt this!

Pretty much!

CALLIOPE: i'll keep this short. CALLIOPE: i know john's already heard a good deal of this explanation previoUsly, and yoU seem to be catching on quick! CALLIOPE: so! CALLIOPE: earlier, yoU mentioned that yoU've had a keen sense from the beginning that something was amiss here. CALLIOPE: althoUgh oUr world isn't necessarily "bogUs" and it certainly isn't "fake", per se, we are in effect completely cUt off from the wider canon of reality, to borrow a phrase from a slightly earlier me. CALLIOPE: we're kept qUarantined here by means of existing within a massive black hole, from which escape seems essentially impossible. CALLIOPE: that's where yoU come in! CALLIOPE: yoU see, we're hoping to leverage yoUr Unique hyperrelevancy here to- CALLIOPE: oops, let me back Up.

Back up to what?

CALLIOPE: the reason we broUght yoU *here*, specifically, is becaUse The Plot Point over there corresponds to the singUlarity at the exact center of oUr aforementioned plot prison! CALLIOPE: important bit of info, that! CALLIOPE: now, to reiterate, we want to escape that prison. CALLIOPE: and not jUst as individUals, either; no, the hope is that we'll be able to emancipate oUr entire world from this narrative pUrgatory and retake oUr place in the limelight!

Oh it was the SECOND THING-- the singularity itself, the normally-inescapable mass concentrating this entire timeline and all other fan-timelines in a prison nothing can normally escape, but that a Thief of Light as incessantly relevant as Vriska -- possibly with the help of an Heir of Breath, the aspect of freedom and escape -- to help them escape the black hole, and perhaps live outside Paradox Space still but still RELEVANT outside its influence, because Paradox Space itself is an entirely different sort of prison, of plot and canon that they would only want to tie themselves to enough to maintain coherence and escape the black hole garbage bin of irrelevance, I imagine.

CALLIOPE: to do this, we aim to become Uncontainable, and to do *that* we're going to Use yoU, a potent plot player if ever there was one, to crack the black hole wide open by, well... CALLIOPE: by interacting with the singUlarity! CALLIOPE: by reaching The Plot Point. CALLIOPE: now there are qUite a few ways this coUld practically shake oUt, and more than a few methodologies we coUld have yoU try. VRISKA: (...) CALLIOPE: the first thoUght was just to have yoU "make something happen" here, something significant, mind. CALLIOPE: bUt what woUld that really entail? CALLIOPE: contriving an entire scenario for yoU to play a pivotal role in, here at the center of all things? CALLIOPE: i did consider it, bUt it felt... CALLIOPE: well, inorganic. inaUthentic. CALLIOPE: and if we're going to make it oUt of here, inaUthenticity is the exact opposite of what we need to achieve! VRISKA: (........) CALLIOPE: which broUght me to wondering how someone like yoU might Utilize The Point itself, as a tool rather than a locale. CALLIOPE: how yoU might wield it!

I guess Roxy and Calliope (or at least, THIS Roxy and Calliope) haven't quite worked out the plan for exactly what they should do now that they've gotten to this point. But the way Vriska is acting, I think she's thinking of something. No matter who may or may not agree with her.

CALLIOPE: perhaps it's a portal, and we'd send yoU throUgh it? CALLIOPE: or maybe we'd have yoU ferry Us all throUgh it? CALLIOPE: thoUgh how woUld that work? CALLIOPE: alternatively, maybe it'd be as simple as having yoU attempt to destroy it! CALLIOPE: and-

I have a feeling that Vriska wants to do something that might let her PERSONALLY escape this timeline and return to the "real" canon one, to a realm of relevance herself... possibly forcibly dragging John along with her if she feels like it, but likely all on her own. And I'm not sure, but I think she wants to see Terezi again. And there's only one place she can find her.

I have a feeling whatever is about to happen isn't exactly what I or anyone else expects, though.

How is she going to steal enough relevance back from Canon to infuse this place with promise? *IS* she going to, or will she try to do her own thing and only accidentally do so, or end up fucking up and needing to be freed by John, or even have John himself be responsible for allowing them to escape the prison instead of Vriska?

(==>)

VRISKA: ALR8GHTY! VRISKA: Just... shoosh, lemme stop you right there. CALLIOPE: :u VRISKA: I don't have all day to sit around listening to a frumpy exposition creature.

*snert* exposition creature

JOHN: but you said t- VRISKA: 8up 8up 8up! VRISKA: You too. VRISKA: Here's the story. VRISKA: It's o8vious to anyone with half a pan that this whole shindig is pretty much cosmically clusterfucked, top to 8ottom. VRISKA: Equally o8vious is that I'm gonna 8e the one to fix it, 8ecause when am I not? VRISKA: And what's 8ecoming even MORE o8vious to me is that none of you actually have any REAL idea of what it is I need to 8e doing here! VRISKA: Theories, may8e. VRISKA: 8ut nothing solid.

That much is true.

VRISKA: So while I'd love to sit around listening to more academic conjecture on the ifs ands or 8uts of what EXACTLY this thing's deal is and what we should or shouldn't may8e do with it, I actually wouldn't love that at all, and am not going to do it, 8ecause it'd be a waste of my time. VRISKA: And no offense to this whole plane of existence, 8ut I've had just a8out as much as I can handle of wasting my time in here. VRISKA: It's time to kick off the training wheels and do what I do 8est: VRISKA: Figure shit out myself. VRISKA: So sit tight and leave the rest of this to me! VRISKA: You can thank me when I get 8ack.

I guess even though she's going it alone for herself, this all might work out after all? Vriska's gonna Vriska, but maybe that's not so bad here.

OH AN [S] PAGE OOOOOO

[S] (Vriska: Figure shit out yourself.)

Whoa that animation was cool as SHIT. And what was with the spinning hourglass...

VRISKA: You're welcooooOOOOH SHIIIIIIIIT-

PFFF

(==>)

That hourglass do be doing a REAL SPINNY STILL.

ROXY: wow JOHN: yeah, she's... JOHN: well, just as much of a card as i remember! ROXY: just as much of a jerk maybe CALLIOPE: she definitely was not very polite. CALLIOPE: bUt... CALLIOPE: i guess she did more or less end Up doing something! CALLIOPE: so i sUppose we shoUld chalk that Up as a win and a job well done? JOHN: i don't know... JOHN: i was kind of expecting something a bit more... JOHN: more plot significant? JOHN: i guess?

You don't quite know what she's going to DO in there though... or how important it's going to end up having made Vriska's experiences in this timeline, because whatever she ends up pulling off has to make (Candy) more important than a doomed timeline in sealing its need ineffably in the course of events of the future, present, or past of all Canon.

ROXY: callie CALLIOPE: yes dear? ROXY: is vriska right CALLIOPE: right aboUt what, dear? ROXY: about the fact that u dont actually know wtf we were supposed to be gettin up to here CALLIOPE: well... CALLIOPE: Um, more or less, yes. ROXY: bb are you srs CALLIOPE: oh dear. CALLIOPE: did i neglect to mention that i only really had a solid grasp on the inaUgural steps of this whole Undertaking? ROXY: um ROXY: YEAH CALLIOPE: oops! ^u^; ROXY: shit yeah callie that is kind of a fuckin oops!

Again... especially with the PRECISION with which this machine is made, I believe Roxy and Calliope are perhaps unknowingly collaborating with the OTHER Roxy and Calliope who are helping write the (Candy) storyline altogether.

ROXY: you said you were being compelled by like hella visions n premonishes n mysterious psychic spatiotemporal intuitions n i kinda figured that meant you had this shit all ttly comprehended! CALLIOPE: i'm sorry, roxy! CALLIOPE: it absolUtely wasn't my intention to mislead yoU or to overrepresent my level of Understanding of the process. CALLIOPE: it's jUst that, well... CALLIOPE: yoU remember how we got so wrapped Up in the initial excitement of finding the singUlarity and the rUined jUjU arch, and sUbseqUently stabilizing it with oUr sUper cool cherUbic-lalondian tech... ROXY: its true our tech really is so fkn cool...

EX-FUCKING-SCUSE ME DID YOU SAY RUINED JUJU ARCH!?!?!?? Who the fuck was responsible for THAT?!? For ALL of these devices!? I still have to play Hiveswap Chapter 2 but I feel like that won't give me answers yet either if I had to guess!!!

CALLIOPE: and then, well... it felt like we were on sUch a roll when we came to the conclUsion that we needed to leverage vriska's hyperrelevance to scUrry oUt of here... ROXY: we did have a whole bunch of high fives about that... CALLIOPE: it was an exhilarating breakthroUgh! CALLIOPE: and an eqUally exhilarating high-five session! CALLIOPE: bUt then the conflict began to ramp Up, and yoUr son got into all those shenanigans, and i wanted yoU to feel like i had everything Under control down here so yoU could attend to it! CALLIOPE: and all that notwithstanding, we really DID need to hUrry Up and do SOMETHING. CALLIOPE: i worried that perhaps yoU'd be a bit relUctant to pUll the trigger on this if it felt like all the details weren't lined Up. CALLIOPE: and so i... CALLIOPE: well, i sUppose i might have implied a more complete knowledge of the a to zed of all this then i actUally... possessed. CALLIOPE: and continUe to possess. JOHN: well, but you don't possess it. CALLIOPE: no, i'm afraid not. CALLIOPE: u_u ROXY: urgh callie i gotta say this feels sorta less than ideal ROXY: but i guess wcyd

Yeah, it was only a slightly dick move and the Rogue of Void is going to forgive this sort of white lie easily enough in their relationship. It makes sense.

JOHN: wow. JOHN: feels kinda nice not being the one getting chastised, for a change! ROXY: john shut ur insensitive blabhole or im gonna chastise the shit out of u JOHN: jeez!

Yeah butt out Egbert!

JOHN: just trying to think solution here, but is there something *we* should do? JOHN: should we maybe, i don't know... follow her? CALLIOPE: oh, i woUldn't recommend that. CALLIOPE: whatever's going on in there is likely to be extremely dangeroUs, and scarily... CALLIOPE: specific. JOHN: it's dangerous and you let her jump right into it? CALLIOPE: well she didn't exactly give me mUch of a golden window of opportUnity to try and talk her oUt of it, now did she! CALLIOPE: besides, what exactly was i sUpposed to say? CALLIOPE: "hello vriska, lovely to make yoUr acqUaintance, so glad yoU coUld make it to oUr little soiree, woUld yoU mind doing something of particUlar significance next to, bUt not within, that crackling narrative nexUs of swirling spacetime? by the by, i'm not actUally sUre as to what, and in addition to that the forces at play here coUld qUite easily rip yoU or perhaps even all of Us along with oUr entire plane of existence to pieces if yoU're not exceedingly carefUl so do take a second or two to think aboUt it?" ROXY: i mean mb that woulda helped ROXY: but rly it sorta seems like she woulda just jumped right tf in anyway JOHN: yeah.

Is John going to have to save Vriska from a Black Hole with his powers like I long falsely theory-foretold back in the original run of Homestuck? Once she's done her thing? John is pretty much the only possible person who could pull her back out of there. It'd be the complete embodiment of his God-Tier Heir of Breath role.

JOHN: ... JOHN: well, it doesn't *feel* like we're all being ripped to pieces. ROXY: ya im feelin pretty structurally intact, hbu callie CALLIOPE: whole and one! SOLLUX: yeah i'm all go0d. ROXY: oh damn dude, when did u get in here- ROXY: wait tf ROXY: are those my chips SOLLUX: i guess they were.

Pfff

banter banter banter...

SOLLUX: anyway what's going 0n in here? JOHN: hmmmmmmmm. JOHN: i wonder what IS going on in there.

Oh I love the next link title (but why is she grumpy though, is this AL/alt!Calliope we're cutting to?)--

Grumpy Exposition Creature: Exposit.

let’s have a look, then. as ever, faced with the desperate scrabbling of those who would overstep their bounds, it falls to me to clear things up. unfortunately, what’s been started here is now beyond my ability to curtail. what i can do, however, is show you all the consequences of the actions of those who would leap before they looked, and at the very least offer you a reprieve from tiresome conjecture in favor of equally tiresome deus ex machina.

Oh god, that's ominous as fuck. Alt!Calliope / AL is definitely pissed that the (Candy) folks besides the chosen few she brought along had the cheek to interfere and make the Canon timeline even more sprawlingly complicated without the ability to loop to a neat close.

Oh look at those brackets to represent the inside of the Plot Point, those are new? Have I finally almost caught up? ((NOO I WANTED TO SEE MORE YIFFY!)) I sniffed a glimpse of a 3D-or-game-like-looking something somewhere on tumblr or twitter or Patreon or the like in the midst of my efforts to immediately look away from anything close to a spoiler, so I sort of am expecting that I might be about to be shown something that would otherwise be surprisingly interactive and three dimensional soon...

[S] {Vriska: Come to.}

That was an ORANGE Sburb house like Dirk's color in the loading, or perhaps orange for Light colored?!

It's her old home... but in a white void with black clouds... ominously surrounded by horses...

{==>}

Home again, like the so distant past. Complete with the shitty "doomsday device" Eridan helped her build that never worked.

{==>}

She walks up her old stairs. Alt!Calliope/AL narrates...

they sent the thief here in search of power; the power to escape the containment i so painstakingly set up for them. she may well find it, though once again at no small cost to the integrity of this narrative, to say nothing of their tragically crumbling world. in fact, they’re quite lucky their meddling hasn’t immediately engendered the exact sort of catastrophic collapse my vibrant counterpart so flippantly theorized could occur. they must have friends in high places.

Friends in high places? Like the readers, or Andrew Hussie, or perhaps (Meat) Callie, who likely helped write this outcome?

If I had to guess, Alt!Callie thought this prison, this CONTAINMENT, would be a blessing... that perhaps the influence of non-Canon on Canon should be minimized even if non-Canon were to decompose into chaos and irrelevance. She believes this to hold nothing but danger and regret for them all. I think she's going to be proven wrong... but why is she so certain she's right about it? Quite ominous indeed...

Is it the remains of the collapsed Green Sun? Something Vriska would have the power to steal, something that might be powering the very existence of the (Candy) timeline though not sufficiently enough to keep it going for much longer without "crumbling" anyway?

{==>}

Whoaaaa.

when all is said and done, however, they’ll find the reward for their transgressions ill recompense for the price they paid to receive it. the black hole could only ever shelter them for so long, and in their haste to shrug off my protection they have opened the door to something far, far hungrier.

What... fandom demands? :?

{==>}

Vriska's old room...

this is not the salvation they are hoping for.

{==>}

DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < meow! VRISKA: AAAAAAAAH! VRISKA: What the fuck are you doing here, Nepeta!

AhahAHAHAH!!! HAHAH! They live! :D

They couldn't be what AL was alluding to, could they? Time powers and fanfiction-love condensed into an oddly gender-euphoric-seeming fusion that loves themselves and knows the meaning and importance of Heart just as well or better than the Prince of Heart?

Vriska didn't meet this one for long, right, or ever? Hence confusing them for Nepeta?

{==>}

THAT'S WHERE ALL YOU OTHER MISSING SPRITES HAVE BEEN BESIDES JASPROSE

DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < davepeta actually DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < but i gotta say its pretty refurreshing getting hit with nepeta instead of dave fur once! DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < everynyans always dave dave daving me and its like um YEAH maybe i AM half walker texas rapper with a sick pair of shades and some pretty funky ideas about what is or isnt funny and for what reasons DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < but i am also half straight up mewjoshi with a super clean trenchcoat and very obvious kitty ear horn things! DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < so thank you fur that DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < its very validating

Multigendered plural fusions need their validation just as much or more than everyone else, really. :D

VRISKA: Okay, well. VRISKA: What the fuck are you doing here, *Davepeta*. VRISKA: What the fuck am *I* doing here! VRISKA: What in the FUCK are you, me, and all the rest of these multichromatic circus freak rejects doing in my hive?! DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < just kinda hangin out!

Is this like... a prison for everyone deemed too inconvenient to serve in the plot of even (Candy)?

{==>}

ERISOLSPRITE: wwe'vve been here for liike a miilliion fuckiin 2wweep2. DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < actually we just got here DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < this place didnt even exist until she popped in ERISOLSPRITE: gue22 ii'll fuck my2elf. DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < sprites go where guidance is essential!

Hmmmmm.

Friends in high places... Perhaps all of Skaia and/or the Horrorterrors combined wills also sanctioned this plan in the end? Because when they were created, or WILL BE created in Meat's timeline potentially, they'll eventually see and know something very important about what's possible here and how essential it is?

VRISKA: Ooooooooh, are you going to lead me to the weapon? VRISKA: Is it one of my doomsday devices? VRISKA: It totally is, isn't it. ERISOLSPRITE: 2et iit off, free u2.

Oh, hahah, Erisolsprite! You're so hilarious, wanting to unalive yourself all the time. Hahahah! Hah. :x

VRISKA: God, causality is so o8sessed with irony, even though it's such a useless joke for o8scene tools. DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < the only weapon in here is curled up snoozing all dormant and cute in your bloodpusher! VRISKA: Really? That's stupid.

It's not! Vriska is the Thief of Light.

If she really understood what that meant, then redistributing relevance is the exact and ultimate weapon needed for this situation. Even Callie and Roxy guessed THAT much, though Vriska perhaps still doesn't know enough about her potential to understand what she can actually do.

Also "in your bloodpusher" could indicate in your Heart, the ability for Vriska to interact with her broader Soul back in Paradox Space...

...Hopefully we don't need her to become an Ultimate Self version of herself? Because creating Ultimate Vriska would ABSOLUTELY open the door to "something far, far hungrier" in a way that might be dangerous to absolutely everyone.

DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < *vriska stalks menacingly but ill informedly all up in here like "ummmmmmmm where am i what are you doing in my hive is the jank ass rube goldberg machine i built as a six sw33p old gonna fix everything?" because apparently thats so much less stupid* DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < just spaying DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < actually yuck i dont like that

Yeah that's a step too far a pun, and also probably not how Davepeta wants to roll.

VRISKA: If it's just me, then why the hell are all you guys here? DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < we rolled through so we could shepurrd our little eight legged sh33p to some helpfur self reflection

Yep... the biggest weapon is potentially Vriska performing some self-discovery and learning more about her title and aspect than she was willing to before-- learning about the real power she commands, which is so SO much more than just "luck".

VRISKA: I came here to save the world! VRISKA: In case you haven't noticed, the only thing showing up in MY reflection is a perfectly adjusted 8adass. DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < s33 that f33ls to me like an insane thing to say DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < does that not sound insane to you fefeta? FEFETASPRITE: 3833 < 383 DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < not very adjusted at all VRISKA: I need to adjust my way out of here. DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < tough kitties! DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < s33 you just bapped the nail on the head DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < this is exactly why youre here DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < you gotta work on your shit vriska serket!

I really like this. I really like seeing ALL of these characters sorting out the worst of some of their unresolved issues. And this childhood room and Vriska's childhood fantasies are at the heart (Heart!!!) of a lot of her desperation and neediness, and inability to look past HERSELF to find who and what she can truly be if she tries. These sprites are together to help speedrun her through a whole successful Sburb session's worth of growing up.

DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < *gears up to lay the fuckin smackdown on you all wrestler style but maybe also rapper style but the rapper is also a therapist who doesnt take shit from anybody and beats their clients the fuck up EMEOWTIONALLY but i guess in a productive way!!!* DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < you meow a big game about doing shit that matters and saving the world and being right all the time and making tough calls or whatever the fuck DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < but more often than not youre just tearing through life taking a big dump in its litter box and kicking your collitteral all ofur the place! DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < fluff that! DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < you wanna save the world so bad? DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < youre gonna have to save yourself first

Let's gooooo! :D

(I wonder if any of the transfem Vriska toblerone stuff is going to play into this incidentally, while we're this far in her past, or if as i hear that was only possibly hinted at mainly in Pesterquest or something else I haven't played.)

{==>}

DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < and were all gonna help you! DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < whether you like it or not

Are those ghosts from the Ghost Rain back in (Candy) that I haven't heard about since, when all the dream bubbles fell into the black hole?

{==>}

the fuck am i looking at XD

Okay, THIS is the 3D page I think I saw hinted at coming up, deliberately misleading link title and all:

{S} Begin Session.

Oh, "welcome to hell" and it's page 666, too, hah.

There was a prompt for a CHAPTER SELECT at the beginning so there's likely to be too much content here for me to screenshot much of, nor text I can highlight and paste properly, so I'm just going to comment on what I'm seeing when it's relevant as I play through this little game thing and paraphrase instead of using whole quotes unless something's so important I can't convey it with a screenshot alone.

We're first revisiting the cliff that Vriska threw Tavros off of. Vriska needs to confront why she fucking did that and that she ought not to have, but what exactly pushed her into it besides Doc Scratch. All the pressures she grew up with, and why she gave into them, and that she was... well, raised wrong and made wrong decisions that she needs to psychologically unpack to find herself. Her real self beneath all the bluster and arrogance and wrecking of shit.

--Ooh wait, the menu has a "Download Log" function, I'll use that if I need to to copy-paste text if needed (but I'll mostly focus on getting through this and commenting)!

*click*

Weird music. Egyptian out of nowhere. Have we crossed Charon's river?-- no wait that's greek. Oh jazz too.

VRISKA: wow, hell was right.

Again I'll try not to quote everything and just allude or paraphrase. I wonder if this beat is implied to be something Davepetasprite^2 would have mixed together.

Vriska thinks she's faced with the "ghosts of her past" and needs to "sort it out", hm. A shallow approach but we'll get to her depths soon enough.

Wait I tried the Download Log option to try and get the transcript to quote Vriska's "speedrun enlightenment" (lol good luck) line, but instead it was just the game's debug log. And the other menu... SKIP UNSEEN TEXT AND AFTER-CHOICES?

Oh man, this is an adventure potentially with CHOICES where we keep skipping back to figure out how to best get through a situation isn't it and see her go through each of the options??? :D (Or is at least built on an engine that does that?) Fucking sick! It even SAVES AND LOADS. Is it big enough to NEED that?!

I'm just gonna dive into this and comment lightly so I can get through it myself if you don't mind.

Continuing Tavros's segment...

We're replaying a point in her past where Tavros is near that cliff, and Vriska hasn't killed OR disabled him yet...

I feel fine about killing Tavros, and he's certainly ok with it now. The situation's sorted!

BULLSHIT IT IS. Let's see you being forced to introspect here, I can't wait.

It could have 8een any number of things. I did a lot of things wrong.

Yeah, BUT WHY? You haven't fucking confronted it yet.

Oh now she's pulling out the thing Rose just did with "It all worked out in the end so it was the right thing to do", fuck that. Fuck that. Learn.

{Hours Later, but not many.}

WHAT IS THAT ANIMATED LIP QUIVER SHE'S GOT TO BE FAKING IT

VRISKA: ...I'm sorry I said your lusus "smelled like tears".

So she's thinking that apologizing for everything she ever did is going to help, here... she might even be working herself up about it, making herself genuinely emotional if I don't get psyched out on the next click. But apology isn't enough here... she needs to learn about HERSELF, and why she did what she did, and what she would RATHER HAVE DONE if it came down to it, rather have done FOR HERSELF and not just for everyone else's.

And perhaps, words aren't at all what matters here. It's hard for a Light player to figure out, but words don't mean much. Only actions.

Clicking forward... yep, it's not progressing. And she's being "sincere a8out at least 80% of these", hahahah.

((Also I forgot that the infinity symbol on her eyepatch lines up with the sideways hourglass on the plot point machine and would be the perfect accoutrement to her becoming her Ultimate Self, too.))

Whoa.

Hold on.

I know it's a common phrase in Homestuck. SO common a phrase that I never... fuck... how could I be... the fucking person who wrote that Ultimate Riddle post and not make this connection?

The game keeps asking her, keeps asking and asking her the exact same question:

"What will you do?"

A phrase repeated dozens and dozens and dozens of times throughout all of Homestuck. And idiot that I am I never ONCE thought to REARRANGE THE WORDS.

Because the answer to the Ultimate Riddle is theoretically:

Do What You Will

THE ULTIMATE RIDDLE POST IS LITERALLY ELEVEN YEARS OLD HOW DID I NOT ONCE MAKE THIS FUCKING CONNECTION

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

(Okay calm the fuck down, focus. Back to the game.)

Is that the lesson she's finally going to learn, here???

Let's keep going and see.

...(more clicking)

"What will you do?"

Huh... Vriska thinks Tavros ought to want revenge against her for what she did to him. That's one of the biggest things she has to unlearn.

VRISKA: It's like I'm always saying, words are meaningless. VRISKA: What we need is action.

Nice callback but no you don't always say that asshole! I mean, you've been saying it lately... but also running from your problems with it.

VRISKA: The reason I'm stuck here is 8ecause I don't owe you plac8ing apologies VRISKA: I owe you revenge. It's just that easy!

None of this is EASY. That's been your issue. You haven't even admitted when it's been hard except for fleeting moments of pure anger and frustration.

VRISKA: You have to throw me off this cliff.

Pffffff

TAVROS: vRISKA I DON'T WANT TO DO A REVENGE ON YOU

Thank you, Tavros, but it's not going to be that easy to get it through her thick skull.

VRISKA: [live out the rest of your life] Here on Alternia. VRISKA: Before everything goes wrong. VRISKA: You can kill me now. VRISKA: 8efore I screw your life up.

Tavros didn't want Vriska to just disappear. Not back then, and not for a long time now.

Oh and now she's literally REPEATING the crime of trying to FORCE HIM TO KILL HER that she did on the quest bed. She has to reckon with THAT too.

Hm-- it's only giving me one choice, huh? I wonder if more will open up if/when we come back to this scene?

{Thief: Do the right thing.}

Manipulating him, stealing his will to FORCE him to kill her. Just another crime for the pile, really, not a solution.

{It's really for the 8est.}

VRISKA: Good luck.

Wishing luck to someone ELSE instead of herself, huh.

{Adios, Toreador.}

The music fading off...

SHING

She's literally GRINNING to be dead.

{==>}

Only to wind back up on that same beach she started the Plot Point in.

YEAR 2

HOLY FUCKING SHIT

OKAY MAYBE THIS IS GOING TO TAKE HER A WHILE!!!!

I guess that while the other folks in the Candy timeilne grew up around her, she's still younger... still has LITERAL growing up to do to match up with them. So that hourglass wasn't a joke, this is almost like a TEMPORAL SINGULARITY, a hyperbolic feelings jam time chamber.

Fascinating. (Click.)

Davepeta roleplaying, heheh. Always happy to see it.

Oh, Vriska has a tank top and her hair tied back. She's going to grow up, steadily and slowly, through all this.

"the breaking of cycles, dissolution of the self, whatever other philosophical rhetoric bill murray said in that one meowvie", huh? I do feel more like we're aiming for her to reach her Ultimate Self here, perhaps...

Yeah no shit Vriska's going to be depressed after two years trapped here with her past problems, unable to even die to escape them.

Asking Davepeta to please tell her, HER, what to do, and not in a flighty spritey roundabout way. Hmm. Let's see if they answer, and let's see if she's finally ready to listen.

You think "sweeps of my life are 8eing w8sted here", huh? Your immortal life, you mean? And you don't know that there's time compression going on in here yet, perhaps.

DAVEPETASPRITE^2: B33 < trust me i'm trying!!

D'aww, they look so bashful about failing to help, here.

Hahahhaah, that IS an issue isn't it! ...Huh. I wonder who WOULD be able to relate to her enough for her to listen to, that she would actually be able to take the advice of. Aradia? But is any version of her or ghostly imitation even here?

I know I'm wasting the image limit a little here but THAT'S WAY TOO CUTE, seriously I love how happy Davepetasprite^2 is with BEING themselves all the time.

Ooh, if you don't watch the groundhog movie you're gonna have an even harder time of this. Two whole years and you didn't watch Groundhog Day for a hint to get out and solve your psychological problems?

DAVEPETASPRITE^2: *the fearsome gender neutral lionesster pins down its prey but instead of getting down to business growls out how the prey deserves this for being a big disappointing pussy*

Fuck I love that, "gender neutral lionesster" complete with that portmanteau at the end, that's valid as heck. Validation of ANY sort breathes life into my lungs.

Whoa... five choices, three of them grayed out, and "Check back later!" at the bottom. No wonder there's save slots, so this is going to be periodically updated?!?

Flarp manuals will bring us back to Tavros for sure... Let's see if that's something new and doesn't bring us back. (Click!)

VRISKA (angry): "I've apologized, I've killed you, you've killed me, you've paralyzed me, disfigured me, we traveled the world together." VRISKA: "We 8uilt you an army, had several revolutions, you got to do your little dance a thousand times over."

Oh she even replayed her LATER adventures with ghost Tavros?

Sure, but what did she LEARN from any of this, about HERSELF? What is she WILLING to learn about herself?

Oh.

Oh my god.

Oh my god this whole time she's never asked him to "participate in activity of his own choosing". SHE'S NEVER ASKED HIM WHAT HE WANTED TO DO THIS ENTIRE TIME.

SHE'S FINALLY LEARNING ABOUT WILL! ABOUT THE BALANCE TO FIND WITH ALLOWING OTHERS AGENCY!!!!?!

Let's see... yep, he wants to play a game.

Because he used to play games all the time with the likes of Vriska... and he enjoyed himself, until she betrayed him and threw him off a cliff. For the first time EVER in her life, Vriska is trying to see what Tavros actually wants without deciding it for him.

{Play game.}

Vriska is baffled that even though she won, Tavros is still happy to have played the game. Even when Tavros was losing, he was STILL ENJOYING playing games with her. He always had.

He doesn't CARE that much about losing. She's never understood, been able to relate, to that. To her, losing was like death.

To him, losing in a new and different way is an adventure.

I'm loving all of this so much.

VRISKA: Damn. VRISKA: That is quite possibly the gayest thing I have ever heard someone say, Nitram.

PFFF I DID A SPITTAKE ALMOST

TAVROS: wHAT DOES THAT WORD, EVEN MEAN VRISKA: I don't know! It's a human word Dave would repeat all the time 8efore I started using it against him.

OUCH, on the meteor trip? Ouch ouch ouch! XD

VRISKA: It's 8asically what you tell people when you think they're 8eing inane and need them to shut up. TAVROS :wELL THEN, vRISKA, i THINK YOU, aRE gAY TOO,

BAAHAHAHAAHAH PREACH

TAVROS: yOU AND I, aRE BOTH STUPID GAY, TAVROS: nOW BASED OFF THE RULES OF GAY, wE HAVE TO SHUT UP AND GAME, VRISKA: I'm not gay, stop saying I'm gaaaaaaaay!!!!!!!!

I'M FUCKIN DYING XD

Tavros is right: If someone didn't lose, following all these game rules wouldn't be fun. If you can't love losing at least a little, you can't truly love playing games.

PFFFHAHAHAH he remembered something for a split second to make a point and then went back to not and Vriska is losing her shit.

She's remembering why she hated him so much... how she HAD to hate this attitude of his. I'm guessing in part it's because thanks to her lusus, SHE NEVER HAD THE LUXURY OF LOSING, THAT WAS DEATH TO HER. Possibly LITERALLY death, to not win and feed others to her mother.

OHOHO SHE ACCIDENTALLY REVEALED HER OWN FEELINGS!!!

VRISKA: I think if a certain uppity human was here, she'd call it "projecting."

SHE'S FINALLY FUCKING LEARNING

Tavros laying it down that he always REMINDED HER OF ALL OF HER FEARS. THAT'S why she always hated him.

TAVROS (eyebrowsing): i LOVE NOW KNOWING, tHAT YOU HAVE PROBLEMS,

Oh that's gonna get to her. XD

They could both be projects for each other. Oh gosh it's actually showing how they could have had a HEALTHY rivalry or relationship in some other quadrant where they improved each OTHER, and Tavros showed her how to be comfortable losing and not always having to concern herself with survival.

Aw he's feeling "inspired" (Breath)!

...whoa. Tavros laying out some alternative gender fantasies here? The nice and soft bronze fairy, and she will be super nice and awesome because everyone likes her?

VRISKA: Let's play some games for girls.

Yeah!!!!!!!!

Oh my god Tavros really DID have a character sheet for a female Bronze Fairy character that was a Tavros-like mirror to Vriska's Blue Fairy and he's embarrassed to say it. This is pretty incredible, I love how much Gender they are stuffing into all of these updates.

And yeah Vriska, it's the first time you've really listened to him. Really, ACTUALLY been not terrified to listen to him, and tried to understand how he feels without your defenses all the way up to just drive over him whenever he made you uncomfortable, or literally ever.

VRISKA: This whole time I thought I was supposed to 8e pushing you. VRISKA: It's soooooooo o8vious now, that was pretty fucking stupid of me. There was nothing I could have done to change your mind, huh? ARADIABOT: exactly

AAAAA aradiabot jumpscare! Right at her important psychological revelation! D:

ARADIABOT: y0ure finally starting t0 get it

And I'm so glad of it.

{==>}

Vriska's finally taken a step forward after all these years trapped here, and she's flabbergasted.

LoMaT and Aradiabot, now.

VRISKA: Are you... aware of the situation? Does this mean I finally cleared Tavros and you're the next level of helltier?

Well, yeah I think so pretty much.

ARADIABOT: i w0uldnt say that ARADIABOT: m0re acurately this is the b0ss fight t0 drive the p0int h0me

Oh?

Yeah, Vriska still thinks this purgatory is about punishment, or atonement, instead of LEARNING. About herself, about her friends, about GROWING as a person.

VRISKA: It's not........?

Two years slow on the pickup! WOW that's a thick layer of problems for Vriska to work through all at once.

Oh what a callout... good point Aradiabot, telling it straight to her that VRISKA was the only one satisfied by Aradiabot giving her the smackdown and killing her. That she wanted to be hated, judged, and that was the thing that she couldn't stand about Aradiabot the most.

ARADIABOT: what i meant was that y0u got what y0u always wanted ARADIABOT: y0u were ex0nerated vriska thats what its always been ab0ut

Yeah, she's always wanted someone to make her pay.

VRISKA: I never once asked to 8e f8rgiven for free, I always paid the price!

No, you believed in the false power of redemptive violence. You never confronted why you did what you did in the first place, you just used exoneration as an excuse to not work on the problem at all in yourself.

ARADIABOT: wh0 can aff0rd t0 care when they kn0w y0ure g0ing t0 hurt them again?

FUCKING PREACH.

No, Vriska, getting beaten and bruised and mutil8ed and h8ing yourself doesn't fix the problem. Redemptive violence is a myth. You have to confront why you did what you did inside YOURSELF and cure yourself of the root cause.

Oh wow, "What will you do" growing on the screen like this...

Yeah, Vriska's not going to manipul8 aradiabot into caring. That wouldn't accomplish anything, and she's moved past really, truly, being willing to try that anyway.

ARADIABOT: y0ure n0t here t0 be redeemed vriska y0ure here t0 grow up

Exactly. ...And kind of fun that Pupa Pan Tavros was her first and hardest test, in that light.

--Vriska doesn't even understand what that MEANS yet, being asked to grow up! She doesn't know what growing up REALLY MEANS having only interpreted it in the cruel Alternian context she internalized while being raised!

ARADIABOT: d0 y0u even want t0 be that b0ssy br0ad?

YES CUT TO THE HEART OF THE MATTER. That Vriska doesn't actually enjoy BEING this thing she thinks she has to be. That the badass bossy broad she's convinced she SHOULD be, and plays the part of, was never what would truly make her happy and was NEVER going to avoid hurting everyone else. And deep down, she hates that she hurts people. But she's convinced herself she never had a choice.

...Yeah, Aradiabot, preach it. Paraphrasing her, even at her "most useless self", there's a place for Vriska in the world and people in it that want to share a life with her if she'd let them.

Pfff, Aradiabot's "0o0" face at her asking "am I the problem?"

ARADIABOT: i am g0ing t0 expl0de again

LOL

People have been telling you that your entire life, Vriska. You've just never listened. <3

ARADIABOT: 0f course! ARADIABOT: y0u already have

EXACTLY-- both before and even in this very sequence, ESPECIALLY in this sequence with Tavros, quite significantly!

--pff she's shocked and confused that Aradiabot thinks so

Yeah, she's grown steadily throughout all this, she's not the same as she was as a kid-- and she still has MUCH more to grow to TRULY grow up, and has taken an enormous step just now with Tavros's memory whether she realizes it or not.

ARADIABOT: "that aligns with y0ur aspect" ARADIABOT: "light players define themselves by their direct acti0ns and understanding"

Agency and Information, yeah! (Though that sort of goes somewhat against how I was saying earlier to Sollux's ominous portent how the Life/Doom axis was better about defining oneself by their actions; perhaps not by their actions but by... hm. Light players concern themselves more about agency (the ability to act) and then the MEANING of those actions, whereas Life players just DO and don't consider the meaning behind what they do as closely, don't LET IT DEFINE themselves as much, perhaps. Is that close to how I've described it before? I need to remember I'm learning from what the story is telling me, not JUST trying to fit it into my preconceived notions, as tempting as that is.

And yeah, a Time player gets to understand how these cycles of growth and then stagnation loops keep happening, the picture of Vriska as a person growing a bit but getting complacent and comfortable and slipping back into bad habits.

Vriska is barely but still willing to accept that there is "some8ody out there still w8ing for me, even after all my fum8ling". (SPOILERS VRISKA, IT'S TEREZI, YOU DUNKASS!)

Vriska says she's wondering whether she and Aradia, despite everything that happened, could have ever been friends.

ARADIABOT: y0u mean if y0u had put in the time and w0rked 0n wh0 y0u are and bec0me ultimately the best versi0n of y0urself? ARADIABOT: hmm ARADIABOT: n0 VRISKA: !!!!!!!! VRISKA: C-can I 8sk why???????? VRISKA: D8 you h8 me that much? ARADIABOT: i d0nt hate you ARADIABOT: but i d0nt want to spend my time 0n y0u either VRISKA: 8ut!!!!!!!! ARADIABOT: v.v VRISKA: ........ VRISKA: ........ ok. VRISKA: Ok.

Vriska was always SO DESPERATE for Aradia to feel SOMETHING towards her. Even hatred. And she was always denied. But not everything is meant to be. And even if she can become a better person, you're not always going to gel with everyone.

This is all so wonderful.

{Vriska: Take Aradia's hand.}

The quest recuperacoon where she ascended...

This is the last image I can put in this post and it made me teary-eyed the instant I saw it and it's still making me teary-eyed. Wow. Fucking... wow, this... this entire trapped-in-a-time-singularity psychological confrontation and growth experience Vriska is undergoing... this is better than anything I could have asked for, for her and from this story. I love this all so much. So fucking much.

VRISKA: 8ut I am actually sorry. For everything. TAVROS: yOURE RIGHT, iT'S DEFINITELY POINTLESS TO SAY, bUT, iT IS AN APPRECI8TED GESTURE };)

{==>}

VRISKA: And, it's not going to 8e the same again. VRISKA: I'll stick with it this time. I promise. ARADIA: we kn0w ARADIA: y0u have t0 ARADIA: n0 0ne else is g0ing t0 save y0u n0w VRISKA: 8ecause it's just me left? ARADIA: yes ARADIA: its just y0u ARADIA: g00d luck vriska ARADIA: i h0pe y0u get better s00n

Even the infinity symbol on her eyepatch has broken just a little bit, like a broken cycle. That got a couple actual tears out of me. This is incredible.

{Level Complete!}

...She's reached the "8OUNDARY RESPECTER" level on her weird new hell/perdition-themed solitary-candle-in-the-darkness echeladder.

Wow. That was just... incredible.

Mindfang's journal is next, but I've hit the image limit, and it's a miracle I've had the energy to push through and liveblog morning to night like this today... but it was all so amazing I couldn't stop, and for now I HAVE to take that image limit excuse to pace myself and not complete that final sequence that's currently out, just yet. I'll probably liveblog that tomorrow... and if I have energy, maybe even check out some of the commentary, unless that's pushing it. Gosh I love this webcomic so much, everyone. This is better than anything I could have possibly expected to happen when she used the Plot Point.

Oh my god... it's called {S} Begin Session because it's an extended THERAPY SESSION. :DDD

Thanks for being on this journey with you guys later, and I'll be caught up soon! There's no way I'm going to be able to get through ALL of the Patreon/bonus commentary I've missed since HS2 resumed in one day, and I can't guarantee I'll even start on it, but by sometime tomorrow I'll be caught up on Homestuck^2, posted, finally and waiting for the next part of this game on Page 666 with bated breath like everyone else, ready to liveblog it within a day or two of each new upd8 while I gradually crawl through whatever bonus material I haven't covered. :D

[13keithxpidge13]

First I ADORE YOUR WRITING!! Your punkflower family AU is soo cute! Could you do a snippet of how it went when Miles found out he was pregnant and Hobie's reaction? Any funny scenarios you had in mind on Hobie caring for Miles during his pregnancy? You are amazing have a nice day 😊❤❤

AAAA MY FIRST PUNKFLOWER FAMILY AU ASK LET'S GOOOOO

(just a little side note, Miles and Noir have a scene together and there is a mention of, y'know, N@zi's, it's just the single word but I don't want to trigger anyone, haha. Enjoy!)

Having his senses buzz every second was unusual. Normally, when his senses buzzed it meant that a villain would be coming to punch his lights out in the next millisecond but, there was no villain to be found when his spider-instincts triggered.

He had talked to his husband about it and Hobie was just as confused. In their puzzlement, Hobie suggested perhaps going to see some of the other Spider's to get some advice? He hated asking for help but, it was important that they find out what was going on with him, Hobie told him.

So, Miles did just that and first, went to talk to Peter B.

"That's...odd, yeah, kid, I'm not sure," Peter B told him sadly as he settled Mayday into her crib for her afternoon nap. It had taken forever to get her down for the afternoon. "Maybe ask Noir? Maybe he knows."

And so, Miles did, and received more or less the same answer.

"Sorry, Miles," Noir apologized as he punched a thug straight in the jaw. "I don't really have any idea. But, perhaps Peni knows. She's smart. She knew what color was on my Rubik's cube before I could figure it out the other day."

Miles laughed at him and reassured him it was alright, waving goodbye but, before the portal could close, he watched as Noir grabbed the thug by the collar before chucking him in a dumpster. Served the bastard right. Fucking N@zi's.

Miles feels even more frustrated though when even Peni doesn't have an answer for him.

"That's never happened to well, any of us before, I don't think," She said while fixing up her robot friend. "I'm so sorry I can't be of more help. But, maybe you should ask Jess? Or Miguel? They've been in the game longer than us."

Miles shudders just thinking of asking Miguel.

Guess Jess is the next best option.

"Your senses are going off all the time?" Jess looked up at him, eyes blinking behind her goggles as she sat next to her bike, a wrench in hand. "Like, all the time."

Miles nodded, sighing as he already sensed he'd come up empty here too. "Yeah...it's nonstop, like, just before I walked in here they started chirping again."

Jess blinked at him for a moment before muttering something underneath her breath and Miles tilted his head.

"...do you know something?" He asked. "Anything?"

"Not sure," Jess licked her lips. "Just...go see a doctor. Okay?"

"What?" Miles straightened. "A doctor? But-I can't tell them-"

"Yeah, I know," She told him, nodding. "Go see one of our doctors, tell them what's going on. They'll know what's up."

Oh.

Miles blinked at her largely. "That...I don't know why I didn't think of that."

Jess laughed and he ran from her in a hurry, face darkening with every single bout of laughter that escaped her lips.

He met up with the doctors only a few hours later, settling in the office easily before being led into one of the many rooms inside. Turns out, there are a lot of doctor Spider-man variants lying around and they all help Miguel out by doing their jobs in HQ.

"Sooo," Dr. Spider began, holding onto a clipboard and Miles has to hold in his laughter at the sight of a Spider-man dressed in a lab coat with only his mask on his face. "Your senses are going off twenty-four seven?"

Miles swallowed and nodded. "Yeah, basically."

"Hm," Dr. Spider stood up. "That means that there's something going on inside of you. Unless, of course, you have a stalker."

Miles deadpanned.

"Welp, an ultrasound it is, then," He told him and Miles blinks rapidly.

"Wait, an ultrasound?"

"Yep," Dr. Spider said. "It's likely you're pregnant, due to being an omega but, this is also just procedure. So, just hang tight for a minute, kay? I'll be back in a moment."

Miles can't get another word in before he's leaving, shutting the door behind him and Miles is left shocked beyond compare.

Pregnant.

He could be pregnant.

Oh god.

+

He comes home late that night, shutting their apartment floor door as quietly as possible.

His footsteps can't even be heard, perks of having the abilities that he does. He walks into their kitchen, making sure to be as quiet as possible so he can grab a drink of water and a pack of fruit snacks to calm his nerves.

Then, he's stalking into their living room, walking past the couches to hopefully get in their shared bedroom without waking Hobie and-

The light switches on and Miles freezes.

Hobie's sitting on one of the couches, an eyebrow raised.

They stare at each other and Miles swallows.

"Hey," He croaks.

"Hi, love," Hobie greets and tilts his head. "Ya've been gone all day. Weren't answerin' my texts and calls."

Miles licks his lips. "Was busy."

Hobie stands from the chair and walks over to him and immediately, Miles is turning away to hide his sniffles and he wipes at his watery eyes. Of course, this doesn't go unnoticed by his mate and Hobie gently grabs ahold of his wrist, his hand dwarfing his arm by a mile like it had always done.

"Love," Hobie whispers. "What's happened? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just-" Miles twitches. "It's just been a long day...I'm fine."

"Yer cryin'," Hobie argues. "Yer not fine. Jess told me ya' went ta' the doctors in HQ, what'd they say?"

Miles curses Jess and his teeth grind.

"I-"

"Are ya' hurt?"

"No."

"Are ya' sick?"

"No."

"Then, Jesus God, Miles what the hell-?"

Miles shakily reaches into the pocket of his hoodie and pulls out the crumpled picture in his hands. Hobie pauses and watches as he holds it up in the light to him.

His brows furrow.

"What-?"

"I got an ultrasound," Miles tells him and Hobie gently grabs onto the photo.

He stares.

Miles sniffles and wipes a hand down his face.

"I'm so sorry, Hobie. I-I don't know how it happened," He cries, unable to stop his tears. "I didn't-I was so stupid. I didn't even realize that I forgot to take my pill during my last heat. I'm so, so, sorry. Please, please don't leave me, I-"

"Leave you?" Hobie breathes and glances down at him, their eyes meeting and Miles' breath hitches as he sees tears glistening in Hobie's mismatched orbs. "Miles, baby, leave ya'? This is-I would never, especially not...yer pregnant?"

Miles sobs and nods pitifully. "I'm sorry."

Hobie exhales loudly and looks back to stare at the photo where an obvious outline of a babe is printed onto.

He glances back down at Miles' stomach. He's hardly showing but-

Hobie gently caresses him tummy and Miles twitches, whirling up to look at him with wide, teary, caramel eyes.

"...Hobie?" He breathes.

"Yer pregnant," Hobie whispers, astonished. "Ya'...ya' want to keep the babe?"

"I-" Miles hesitates. "...yeah. I do."

Hobie licks his lips and nods. "Aight, then," He says. "Then, I guess we're havin' a baby, love."

Miles breaks down and sobs.

"Re-really?" He cries, reaching for him and grabbing onto him so tightly, like Hobie is his only lifeline, like he'll fall apart without him. "Really? We are? You'll stay?"

"Gods, Miles," Hobie laughs breathily. "Of course I'll stay. We didn't plan this but I always figured it'd be in the cards fo' us one day. Kinda scary that we didn't plan any of this, yeah but, we'll make it work, babe. Spider-man always makes it work."

Miles laughs wetly and immediately hugs him tight and Hobie returns the gesture, kissing his head and rocking them back and forth as Miles cries and cries into his chest.

"Oh, my darlin'," Hobie coos, rubbing up and down his back. "I love ya'."

Miles sniffles and nods. "Love-love you too, Hobie," He sobs. "I love you so much. Thank you. Thank you. I'm so excited, I'm-we're gonna have a baby-"

"With yer eyes," Hobie grins.

"With your smile," Miles laughs right back.

Hobie kisses his temple and Miles stands on tip toes to catch his lips in his own.

Days later, the printed ultrasound photo can be seen hanging from their fridge and they begin counting down the days until they can meet their baby boy.

Eight months later, Aaron Morales is welcomed into the world.

[mimicha-arts]

Date: 09/10/23 Hm. Some thoughts, details, mostly speculation about ep 10 + things discussed over the last two months, it might be a bit chaotic ~ Don't take it too seriously, feel free to discuss. A lot of thing are open-end speculations, as we don't have too much detail about the lore and Lu Guang.

Spoilers for s2!

Twins - who killed Chen Bin?

I won't dwell too long on the exposition about the twins' abilities -the fandom's collective mind was right, who has what powers, how important physical contact is, why Qian Jing actually wears gloves. Really satisfying thing - twins are really attached to the theme of the “present” and do not physically disappear. May we say that the situation with the photo and the phone is confirmed? That it was Li Tianchen both times (unless there are any time jumps that we are not aware of). The main question, given the unpredictable factor, depends on how spontaneous the plan was. I think the timing is pretty fast, but in pure theory, I understand how everything could happen in such a short moment. Chen Bin was taken in control as soon as his phone conversation with Qian Jin ended. The following time was just enough for Cheng Xiaoshi to come to Lu Guang's room and all the characters discussed the current situation (Now it’s clear why Chen Bin’s behavior was so strange and there was a misunderstanding), at the same time Xiao Ma drove Qian Jin and twins to the hospital.

Xiao Ma left, he was waiting on the roof in advance - Chen Bin (possessed) left the room, went to the roof and gave the phone to Xiao Ma.

So...... Xiao Ma left him alone, and we now "know" for sure that he was not directly involved in his death - the one who threw him off the roof was Li Tianchen... Perhaps not. Yeah, this was the trigger for Li Tianxi - so there is the problem one, even if Li Tianchen was planning something behind Qian Jin's back, he couldn't predict his sister's reaction and that this situation would get out of control. Personally, I kinda think  that this happened to her at exactly this moment,  because she and Chen Bin knew each other personally (If Qian Jin continued to keep in touch with Chen Bin all these years, there is such a chance. Perhaps Chen Bin wanted his child to be a girl also because of Li Tianxi... I'm speculating) But did Li Tianchen really manage to throw Chen Bin off on his own, or did he lose control earlier? Because I think it's the second option, and Xiao Ma returned to the roof - completing what Li Tianchen couldn't do. > I've got the aftermath covered for you.

As I think, in the end the twins didn't kill Chen Bin - Li Tianchen lost control before that happened (which also gives extra time considering the count was in minutes - because Li Tianchen had to be at the hospital in the shortest possible time to pick up the phone from Xiao Ma coming down the stairs). So the real killer was Xiao Ma.

Anything is possible, of course, we will see. Although I still have a question. Did Li Tianchen stop following Li Tianxi because it was his only opportunity to pick up the phone/contact Lu Guang? Or was the spontaneity of the moment not so spontaneous and he had not planned to run after her in the first place? I still don't quite understand Li Tianchen's actions regarding Lu Guang. There is a possibility, based on his sister’s mental abilities, that having possessed Qiao Ling, Li Tianchen already knew about the abilities of both Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang - the questions in s2s1 were nothing more than catching Cheng Xiaoshi in a lie.

It's kinda confusing, but in the end it turned out that Li Tianchen "framed" his sister, because of which Qian Jin does not suspect betrayal from Li Tianchen. I also think about the possibility that Li Tianchen, if he actually killed Zhuang Shuai, he originally knew (through his sister's abilities) the real circumstances between Chen Nan and Zhuang Shuai, and this is what may influence Li Tianchen's real attitude towards Qian Jin all these 7 years. Li Tianchen cares about his sister a lot - it's not just his words, voice, and my own faith in the complexity of his character. Because Li Tianxi ended up in a fairly safe place, in an abandoned area, but it was an old shop that still had groceries and, surprisingly, electricity.

She ran away without her old toy fox. I also think that this is the same toy from her childhood that was sewn up, given the condition of the fox. The only person who could find her and return her fox is Li Tianchen. There is still a lot to be revealed here.

The question remains. Where's the phone? I don’t think that Liu Xiao is in contact with Li Tianchen now, it seems that the promised meeting has not happened yet and Li Tianchen pursues purely his own goals. Obviously it needs to be a safe place, but probably still "visible" and accessible. Still a lot of speculations! Just a though. But what if? Inside the fox toy.

Li Tianxi's drawing - blue ability

The interesting thing is that Tianxi drew Lu Guang. Initially, this seems fine in the context of s1ep11, attack towards Lu Guang, but Qiao Ling or Cheng Xiaoshi were not drawn, and Lu Guang himself had red eyes. Such a thing should not have happened since the original plan in s1e11 was to hurt Lu Guang, not possess him. From the time Lu Guang was injured until Li Tianxi escaped, about 12/13 hours passed, most of which Lu Guang was unconscious, so I can't figure out where is a "window" for possessing. I don't know how to understand this part yet. Unless Li Tianxi simply used Lu Guang as an “example” and did not include any subtext.

Another thing: it is possible that the twins do not perceive the physical pain of the person they are possessing. There was a scene with Xiao Li, who explained that a person, purely technically, cannot strangle themself due to the physical reaction. But, again, I didn’t have that experience, sooo, idk.

In my understanding, Li Tianxi probably did not cry from physical pain, but rather from this entire terrified situation, from what her brother was doing and/or the thoughts of Lu Guang himself.

Since she uses her abilities with Lu Guang's photo to determine his condition, I also have one thought, since I am sure that we still don't know anything about Lu Guang's "real current blue abilities."

Considering that not only photographs have become key moments in the narrative, drawings also play this role, I think it’s time to mention one strange moment that is connected with Lu Guang. I still have a lot of questions about why Lu Guang, closing one eye, used his abilities not on the part with the photo, but on the back part, with the drawing. Was it an animation error, or… Technically, is it possible to use abilities on any images at all? Now that we know abilities aren't tied to photos, yes, in theory.

Anyway. We still don't know how much the "blue" ability can vary - but what if Lu Guang, much like Li Tianxi, can sense a person's "state" in the current, at least whether a person is alive or not, through a photo or image.

Because, well. Let's go back a little. The Doudou's case. Since s1 I've been wondering. Could Lu Guang have known in advance not details, but the simple fact that Doudou was still alive and the case would not lead to a dead end?

Considering Cheng Xiaoshi's mental state, their quarrel, the absolute unpredictability of what could happen to the child that day or later, how could he objectively propose this case without knowing that the child was alive, after these three years? I just find it interesting.

Innate ability - ability to take it away

I also think, we can confidently say, using the example of twins, that abilities must be innate + have a first activation trigger. Can they be activated separately, or must a trigger situation occur for both at the same time? So far it remains unanswered. Twins do not have the ability to take away abilities from others literally, and in fact, Tianchen's words simply meant that he wants, with the help of his sister, possess Cheng Xiaoshi and experience his abilities.

But. Who really knows about the possibility of taking away abilities? Lu, fucking, Guang. Of course, nothing is said directly, but I'm more than sure for now, based on his reaction and response.

Considering that he did not know about the existence of twins, does not suggest in s1 that the killer in theory could be a person with abilities, I will write a rather wild thought. This does not apply to some abstract carriers of abilities, I don't think Lu Guang has ever met other people like himself and Cheng Xiaoshi in the past - so his knowledge that the ability can be taken away - refers specifically to his personal experience and Cheng Xiaoshi. What if the ability to "take away" an ability is not an actual ability, but refers to the death of the ability's bearer?  In fact, to the death of Cheng Xiaoshi in the past.

So if Xiaoshi's death was the moment when Lu Guang "inherited" his abilities and was able to rewind time, could this be pretty interesting? We've never been shown their "overall color coding" as green, although the visual elements very often use green instead of yellow. Also, for Li Tianxi (blue) and Li Tianchen (red) we've seen the purple/magenta visuals a few times already.

Moreover, we already had an interesting implication that Cheng Xiaoshi himself received abilities only after meeting Lu Guang, at the same time (同時). Lu Guang was said to be the bearer of the ability (超能力者）, which somewhat… May imply that Lu Guang already had the ability when they first met in the current timeline. But, again, I'm not sure if it's reliable

I'm not ready to write the entire RGB/CMYK theory right now. I'll have to think about it carefully, but if the parallel realities/rewritten timeline theory will be finally confirmed, mark my words. Let's leave that for the next post, as well as the possible interpretation of his other already shown abilities related to cameras, recording information and sketches-like POV. Anyway, I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out that Lu Guang’s original color coding is not even yellow, but green, and Cheng Xiaoshi’s is blue.

I have a lot to say, but I think it's best to leave that for another post. Either their abilities were activated due to the power of love in the first place, lol.

Posters Besides Starry, starry night there are some interesting things, but I don't understand them too well. These are my guesses, my understanding is very shallow.

1. One of the poster with 海燕和黑色闪电 refers to the "The Song of the Stormy Petrel", written by Maxim Gorky. Up above the sea's grey flatland, wind is gathering the clouds. In between the sea and clouds proudly soaring the Petrel, reminiscent of black lightning. 2. 春深似海 - spring (love?) is like the ocean, is a chengyu from 兒女英雄傳 (The Gallant Maid), novel by Wen Kang. 3. 声色俱厉 is also a chengyu, stern in voice and countenance. You can check a part of 《語林》 here, what it refers to, I hesitate to take responsibility for conveying the meaning in context, but I found it VERY interesting. Correct me, if I'm wrong! The rest is too blurry for me, maybe I'll come back to it later. XƎTЯOVerthink I made a separate post about this, you can see it here, the episode with the theater/stage is extremely close in essence to what we see in XƎTЯOVerthink. I wonder if we will understand the whole context of the many dead Cheng Xiaoshi just in these two weeks :)

We have so many implications that nothing can be rewritten, and at the same time, time is already broken, and Xiaoshi is being challenged for the second time whether he is ready to rewrite everything just for Lu Guang. The level of this tension is SO noticeable it's terrifying.

Xiaoshi and his abilities I think his actual plan was pretty smart, even if it didn't work out well due to other circumstances - and we're getting into some very dangerous zone where "diving" almost borders on the topic of teleportation, so the use of abilities is more and more closer to the context of the present, not the past.

Personally, I think. that the photo (which Li Tianxi looks at) has nothing to do with this - this photo on the phone was needed specifically for Li Tianxi’s abilities. Considering Xiao Li's phone, they should have used a remote CCTV feed, so that they could create a "save point" and move it around. So, maybe it's not "diving", but like respawn on the same spot.

Technically, Cheng Xiaoshi's abilities are limited to diving into the past - but we don't know this for sure (and what opportunities does he have for “cheating”), since all the information we have comes from Lu Guang, and he's an unreliable narrator. As we remember from episode 2, Lu Guang himself could use his abilities to “view and track” in the present time. Not in the past.

The Tunnel When I did the analysis on Starry Starry Night, it was added that the tunnel scene, if this is the reference for OP, has an obvious feeling - to go on the path to a dream, where the end is ... the end of everything. And now we actually have a tunnel and rails as part of the narrative and the location, amazing.

Time is already dead. I already wrote that in s2 something strange happens with time. Dates are gone, years are gone. Even the twins' files never included a year of birth, although we can calculate it. The moment that made me think that everything was WRONG from the beginning was the Xu Shanshan phone from the previous series. There are no dates anywhere on the phone screens, but our timeline is the end October, maybe the beginning of November. Only her phone still has some dates. And the photos at the bottom are dated as "today", yesterday", and the previous ones… May(五月). And April(四月). Like. Xu Shanshan didn't take pictures for half a year? Doesn't sound right.

But apparently? Time is unimportant. At all.

Because. Everything literally vanished. Year? 0. Month? 0. Day of the week? 0. Hour? 0 Time is truly dead.

Thank you my dear @wrathyforest without you  I don't know if I could take this road ~ I'm pretty sure I'm wrong about a lot of things, so I just keep having fun and playing bingo. I just want to see how wrong I am about everything ~

[zyzix]

There's this aspect of Joshua Kiryu's character arc that I'm sort of flabbergasted to realize might be basically un-analyzed these past 15 or so years. I still kind of expect someone will pop up and point to something they've already written, but i'll talk about it anyway. This might also create some analysis ideas for NEO?? Ideally, anyway.

Essentially, I think it's really likely that Joshua misunderstood way more about his situation with Hanekoma, Minamimoto, and Neku than people tend to think. Not only that, but the idea that he had these misunderstandings kind of colors his relationship with Hanekoma. It also adds to him and Neku being foils. Where do I even begin.

I guess just with this scene that always made me go "hm, that's weird." Joshua: Think he's got a thing for you, Neku? Neku: What!? How the hell do you figure that? Joshua: Oh, please! The way he follows you around? Neku: That's just because I'm a Player. Joshua: I don't see him chasing after the other Players. Neku: (He's right… So why me?) Joshua: …Or is it my fault? Neku: (What? That's right… He might be tied in with the Reapers.)

So, what's so weird about this? Am I actually proposing that Joshua really thought Minamimoto was following Neku when he asked this? YES. I AM. That might sound nonsensical, and that's because it kind of is! But there's a reason for that.

When you know what happened in the Udagawa back alley a week and some change prior to that scene, it's reasonable to ask "why would Joshua think a Reaper was after some random RG guy?" Minamimoto came at him with a gun! But then why did Joshua even ask Neku if Minamimoto was following him? If he's trying to trick Neku into thinking this, he wouldn't immediately propose the truth afterwards. Maybe he's trying to make Neku distrust him as he does earlier (Neku scanning him, general sketch behavior perhaps) but not only is that redundant, it still doesn't answer why he asked about Neku in the first place.

So what happens if we take Joshua at face value here? Are we to assume Joshua thought he was the target at Udagawa, but Neku is the target now? I have no idea what the thought process would be behind that. Are we to assume that Joshua thought Neku was the target the whole time?? That still seems illogical, but maybe instead of asking why Neku would be the target, we should shift our focus and ask "why would Joshua think he isn't the target?"

I find that a lot easier to answer because we have Hanekoma. And Joshua thought he did too, basically.

We know from Secret Report 9 that the only person who should know Joshua's RG identity here is Mr. H.

SR 9: Minamimoto knows the Composer's RG identity (secret even to the Conductor), and has chased him to the Realground. The Fallen Angel may also have supplied him with this information.

Even in this report, it's proposed (by Hanekoma's misdirection) that someone else, some other Angel perhaps, could know Joshua's identity. We know that there isn't another Angel who told Minamimoto this information though. It was just Hanekoma. The only person in the story for Joshua to suspect is Mr. H.

Yet he doesn't. Or, I don't believe he does anyway. Let's take a look at our options.

Why does Joshua not seem to be wondering who sold him out? We have two branching options to start with: "He already knows who did it" and "he doesn't realize he's been sold out."

Lots of people assume Joshua already knows Hanekoma revealed his identity to Minamimoto. Because like… how else would he have known? Literally what else is Joshua supposed to think after being shot at? I mean, I've been explaining what else Joshua could have thought, but the point is it's a fair assumption. The only issue is that Joshua doesn't behave like he knows Mr. H betrayed him until Week 2 Day 5.

That is a long delay between then and when Joshua should have first known this information (before the story even starts.) I don't know when definitively Joshua put it together, but W2D5 is the first time we can say we KNOW he knows. And it really might have been that moment, because what happens right afterwards?

Well, Neku and him get attacked by Beat and Joshua learns about Kitaniji's "special op." But what happens right after THAT?

Joshua tells Neku that Hanekoma is CAT. An eye for an eye, I guess.

Part of the idea that Joshua did know Mr. H betrayed him from the start is that maybe Joshua was just putting up with that fact. That maybe Hanekoma was too useful, and couldn't do more harm anyway. Or that Joshua really didn't have any other options. I can understand why people think that, but I don't think we can bet on any of those. There's no reason for Joshua to think Hanekoma couldn't do way more harm than just tattling on him, especially as the week goes on and Taboo Noise crop up. Also, while it's impossible to prove one way or the other, there's no reason to think Joshua couldn't have built his game plan sans Hanekoma from the start if he thought he'd betrayed him. All of this assuming that Joshua gives a shit about what Mr. H did, admittedly.

On the other hand, if we posit that Joshua found out later about Mr. H, and that he'd give a shit about that, there should be some kind of change in his behavior towards him. This seems a little hard to to prove because that scene on W2D5 is the last time we see them interact (or even see Mr. H at all) until the ending of the game. That said, it's probably very telling that in TWEWY Mr. H is Joshua's sole confidant, and in NEO Mr. H has no idea what's going on with Joshua at all. I find that very interesting, but we're gonna put a pin in that for later.

Aaaaaaaaaall of that's to say that I don't think it's very likely that Joshua knew Hanekoma told Minamimoto his identity from the start. He shares information with Mr. H too easily for me to think that's the case. What's our next option?

It's possible that Joshua believed he already knew who told Minamimoto, but he was mistaken. However, I said before that there isn't any other suspect in the story and I don't think we can give Joshua another suspect to focus on without just making stuff up. Haz and Coco come to mind as people who might be able to share Joshua's identity, but we can't escape the fact that neither of them even existed at the time Joshua's main character arc was written. We would probably also have to invent some connection they'd have to this particular Game despite them being absent. I think this option is less likely than Joshua knowing about Mr. H the whole time, so I'm striking it off.

What we have left is the "Joshua didn't know he'd been sold out" option. Aside from what I've been arguing, the only other option is "Joshua thought Minamimoto found out on his own somehow." There's no solid reason for Joshua to think this, but it's possible he did anyway. The only reason I think this is less likely than the possibility that he didn't realize Minamimoto was after him is because of how Joshua talked to Neku back there. We have evidence that Joshua might have thought Minamimoto was after someone else; we don't have evidence that Joshua might have thought Minamimoto was able to discover his identity on his own. That said, after the conversation Josh had with Neku W2D2 it's possible his assumption shifted from one to the other as he was trying to figure things out.

So yeah, I believe it's most likely that Joshua didn't realize he'd been sold out at all because that would require him to think Hanekoma would do that to him. Because of that, he believed for more than a week that Neku was Minamimoto's target when they were all in the RG.

You might think that this idea would run into a lot of inconsistencies but I've found it to be shockingly coherent. (Honestly the whole background plot of this game is shockingly coherent for how overt it's themes are. I guess that's beside the point.) Like, let's look at the scene in Udagawa.

It starts with Neku looking up at the tag mural. Then Joshua runs up with a gun from Neku's left. It appears as if Joshua may have been looking behind him. Then Joshua fires in Neku's direction. Neku falls to the ground, but he is unhurt. Then Minamimoto is revealed to be behind Neku with a gun. He is clutching his shoulder. Minamimoto raises his gun, and Neku shields himself. Then several shots are fired towards Joshua. Joshua stops the bullets with his powers, and silently threatens to shoot Minamimoto again. Minamimoto runs off, and Joshua shoots Neku while he is looking after him.

If Joshua already believes that his identity is safe, none of that would clearly contradict that idea to him! Why did Josh think Minamimoto shot at him? Because Joshua already shot Minamimoto. Why was Joshua running if he didn't think Minamimoto was chasing him? To get to his target before the Reaper.

Conversely, why would Joshua be running from Minamimoto if bullets aren't going to hit him?

To us it's obvious that Minamimoto was chasing Joshua and tried to cut him off at the other end of the alley. But to Joshua at the time, he thought Minamimoto was going for the guy in between them.

This does raise some other questions, but there's enough of a case here that I think it's worth speculating off of. Did Joshua even have a theory as to why Minamimoto would be after someone in the RG? Maybe he thought Kitaniji sent one of his Reapers after his potential proxy. Why would it matter to Joshua if Minamimoto killed Neku instead of him if he needs the guy dead? Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Joshua only leaves that extra Player Pin-- his trump card-- on Neku after Minamimoto leaves.

Kind of wild so far, right? Well we're not done because I think this idea that Joshua may have had created ANOTHER oversight for him.

Week 2 Day 7: Minamimoto: I was hoping for a little reenactment. Same spot, same setup as last time… Neku: (Last time? Nrrgh! Not now!) Joshua: You OK, Neku? Neku: Waaaugh! [incomplete Neku death cutscene] Neku: It… it was you? Joshua: Neku… Neku: You killed me… You stole my life!

What's with Joshua's reactions here? Did he not realize that Neku was getting headaches around Minamimoto?

(yes)

It's understandable if you think Joshua is faking it here, but if you're with me about this so far you also have to admit that Joshua's surprise can be pretty genuine. I'll be honest, I thought this way before I thought anything else I've put in this essay so far just because Joshua and the situation seemed sincere to me. Why wouldn't Joshua notice this, though?

See, there are four times that Neku, Joshua and Minamimoto are all in the same scene. Neku gets a headache from all of them, and this is what they look like:

Maybe this is just me, but the sprite direction in all of them but the last one makes it seem like Joshua stays between Neku and Minamimoto, and that he does not take his eyes off of Minamimoto the whole time he's around. And compare day 1 to day 7. Even though Neku's sprite is the one in the middle, he retreats backwards when he gets the headache, giving the suggestion that he's actually sort of behind Joshua. That doesn't happen on day 7 though, meaning Neku is definitely far enough in front that Joshua can see him-- and that's when Joshua finally reacts.

How could Joshua misunderstanding Minamimoto's target contribute to this? Regardless of the misunderstanding here, it's clear to me that Joshua views Minamimoto as enough of a threat that he doesn't even glance at Neku while he's having a memory migraine. But the fact that Joshua does notice on W2D7 seems a little less random if that misunderstanding had cleared up for him and caused him to be less zeroed in on Minamimoto. Keep in mind that these four events split evenly into "before W2D5" and "after W2D5." That means that the first two, Joshua would have thought Neku was the target, and the last two are when Joshua knows he was the target all along.

It makes some sense that Joshua might be so focused on Minamimoto that he doesn't notice what's going on with Neku if he thought Neku was being targeted, but what's going on W2D6? Joshua should know by then it's not Neku that Minamimoto was after. Hell, Minamimoto saved both of them earlier that day so why is he so focused on him then but not the next day? I suspect it's because this was Joshua's first time talking to Minamimoto while knowing he tried to kill him, and he was very absorbed in it.

So on days 1 and 2, Joshua was totally focused on Minamimoto because he viewed him as a threat to his proxy. Day 6 Joshua is focused on Minamimoto but it's not about him being an immediate threat, and on day 7 Minamimoto is at his most dangerous, but Joshua thought he could relax more because he was the target and not Neku.

There is one more thing that might keep this from the list of "Shit Joshua Did Not Know About," and it's the fact that Neku… talks? He talks while he's in migraine pain. Joshua may not spare a glance Neku's way but he can hear. Would that not tip him off earlier than W2D7 if he wasn't just ignoring Neku? Funny that-- the dialogue is actually sort of clever here.

Neku talks a decent amount when he's getting that memory migraine around Minamimoto, but the most suspect lines Neku has aren't spoken by him out loud.

Week 2 Day 2: Minamimoto: You fractals have no future! QED. Class is dismissed! [Minamimoto leaves] Neku: (Finally… The pounding's stopped. What language is that guy speaking?)

Week 2 Day 6: Neku: !? Zetta… Neku: (Nrrgh! My head… again…) […] Neku: (The pain's fading… Are he and I connected or something?)

Earlier on (as in the two days Joshua is most focused on Minamimoto as a threat) Neku does also speak out loud about his brain suffering. If Joshua isn't looking at him as well though, they're all things he could interpret as Neku simply complaining about the Weird Math Guy Who Says Confusing Things Through A Megaphone. Neku doesn't like people being loud or people speaking nonsense after all, and uh… Joshua also didn't have the highest opinion of Neku's sociability. Assumptions are a hell of a thing.

So Joshua went into his Game with Neku completely unaware that Hanekoma betrayed him and that Minamimoto was trying to kill him specifically. Then he carried on for nearly the majority of this game without knowing that Minamimoto-- or perhpas the combination of him and Minamimoto-- was giving his proxy debilitating headaches. What does that mean for his character?

Little, but interesting things, I think. I find it pretty compelling that Joshua missed something big about Neku because he was so self-involved even while trying to protect him. It's a neat thing to point at and go "yup, Neku's not the only one who looks stupid for writing people off." I think it also lends well to the idea that they were both getting to know each other in week 2.

Also-- we're coming back to that pin from earlier-- I think it helps flesh out a difference between Neku and Joshua's situations at the end of the game.

Neku: I'm glad I met you guys. You made me… pick up on things, I probably would've just gone on ignoring. Trust your partner… and I do. I can't forgive you, but I trust you.

If you've collected all the secret reports, after Neku's ending monologue and the credits, there's the secret ending. And I feel like the idea of "trust vs. forgiveness" is a palpable element when the ending is viewed as a whole like this. TWEWY doesn't touch upon the idea of forgiveness nearly as much as it does the idea of trust, but I can't help but see a distinction between the two in Joshua just as much as Neku. Only where Neku trusts Joshua but doesn't forgive him yet, Joshua forgives Hanekoma but doesn't trust him yet.

Think about it, doesn't "forgives but does not trust" perfectly describe all of Joshua's future behavior towards Hanekoma? He'll hang around Mr. H in the Room of Reckoning and 104, or talk with him casually about the destruction of a neighboring city. But he wont talk to him if he's upset, or tell him any of his plans anymore. He doesn't seem to hold any of it against Mr. H but he refuses to confide in or rely on him. That turnaround feels really strong if you look at how much Joshua relied on him beforehand. Or if you view his impression of his assassination attempt as contingent on his trust of Mr. H.

The crumbs of information we get about Joshua and Hanekoma's relationship after the betrayal might seem sort of circumstantial. Joshua doesn't want to talk about his feelings for Neku in the secret ending. That carries over into A New Day, and seems to be about Neku. And then in NEO Joshua doesn't give any information to Mr. H for… unknowable NEO plot reasons. But there's something else between og TWEWY and NEO to suggest that Joshua doesn't trust Hanekoma with shit.

A New Day- Hanekoma (over the phone): If that kid is who I think he is, then he probably doesn't know a thing. If he's who YOU think he is, then he probably won't say a thing.

At first this reads fine because Joshua spent his week with Neku tight lipped and evasive as hell. But still, isn't it a little weird for Mr. H to be saying this? He tells Mr. H stuff, doesn't he? Not anymore! It feels like this Hanekoma is talking pretty universally despite having been the exception. But he doesn't know shit and he doesn't propose he can help them know shit if it's about Joshua. And maybe Coco's fake Shibuya has something to do with that, but it's hard to say.

Honestly, aside from gaining the perspective to not destroy a whole city (important), it's easy to look at this and wonder if Joshua came out of TWEWY worse off. And… yeah, NEO really doesn't seem to help that. But I'm going to end this off with some really vague NEO speculation.

What if it's REALLY just Hanekoma who doesn't know shit about Joshua now? It's probably impossible to know the extent of this, but for some reason Shiki and Beat seem to treat Joshua with a slight sense of familiarity now…? The fandom also (quite reasonably) assumes that the real final day of NEO is the first time Neku has seen Joshua since the final day of TWEWY but we don't actually know that. Some food for thought.

[copperbadge]

If you could buy Tumblr, would you?

Hm, an interesting thought!

If I were capable of buying Tumblr this would imply one of two things: either Tumblr is so devalued and has become so cheap to maintain that a single man living in downtown Chicago with two cats to feed could afford to buy it and keep it, or I have somehow come into enough wealth that I am capable of squandering millions on the Hellsite.

(Or I'm running the most incredible con, which is actually the most flattering option.)

If we're talking a situation where Tumblr would cost me roughly the price of a third cat to purchase and maintain, sure. Buy it, keep it like a pet. This is a bit of an unrealistic vision of things, because under what circumstances would this possibly happen, but as long as we're in unreality, let's pretend I could also simply add and remove features at will. That's some fun shit. Sure, I would.

The more realistic option (for a given value) is that I have mysteriously come into a massive sum of money and could afford to purchase Tumblr. In this scenario, I could likely afford to operate it at a loss only for so long, but I don't actually know how much Tumblr costs on a yearly basis to keep it operational. Most of the problems with most social media, however, come from the fact that they don't just have to break even, they have to turn a profit to continue to function, or they have to have regular infusions of venture capital. A thorny issue.

Ideally what I would do once Tumblr was purchased, and presuming all the other share/stakeholders and investors were paid off, was immediately convert it to a nonprofit. What you can do with nonprofit cash is a lot smaller than what you can do with for-profit levels of investment, but turning Tumblr into a nonprofit has the immediate advantage of no longer having to make money. Tumblr can actually run at a "loss" if it's a public service, because it's all donation-supported anyway. I could think of half a dozen immediate easy targets for major gift fundraising for "Tumblr 503", and I would immediately begin planning both an annual campaign (that's what you see Wikipedia and AO3 doing each year) and a capital campaign to create an endowment to protect the org from future depredation.

Depending on funding I would also be willing to create an arm of the Tumblr Foundation that could start separate initiatives like legal protection for activists on the platform, AI that is better at recognizing illegal content so we don't have huge buildings of poor traumatized motherfuckers doing that moderation work, and such things. This isn't at all uncommon -- the nonprofit I work for now is a medical nonprofit, but even as small as we are, we have numerous different initiatives, from political lobbying to pharma outreach to a helpline for the newly diagnosed to a yearly conference for doctors in the field to funding for young researchers.

Would it work? Dunno. Possibly not, I'm not experienced in backend management of a massive website. But I know people who are, and if the money was there I'd take a stab at it. Worst case scenario, we just take it private again and sucker a couple of billionaires out of their money a second time. Promise if the nonprofit doesn't work and we sell Tumblr to the highest bidder, everyone on the site when we do gets a cut.