#However. It would be so fucking funny if someone with no context did witness their tomfoolery

[hulloitsdani]

So I just had a thought.

Since tempest trials are in engage for some reason, is there a non zero chance that Alear and friends could witness the Order pulling their Waffle House adjacent shenanigans of throwing hands with a storm that rips holes into different realities? Like could you imagine?

Watched them decide handle this with a team of four and a dream. Somehow it works. Leaves without elaboration.

[katyspersonal]

How do you think Aldrich would speak? Is he rambling on philosophically like Aldia? Goofy and cryptic like Micolash? Is he flamboyant and manipulative like Shabriri?

I KNOW IT'S YOU @heraldofcrow !!!!!!!! There are only three people left that care about Aldrich: Tail does not send asks on anon, and I am literally right here, which only leaves YOU!

But yeah... He is the only of The Guys for whom we do not have any speech patterns reference, isn't he? I mostly come from the context and analysing characters' place and motivation in the story. Whereas Aldia is like Laurence and Micolash combined (affectionate), Aldrich is like Laurence and Micolash combined (derogatory)! THIS MAKES SENSE AND YOU KNOW IT OK!! He is of course less selfish than Laurence and Micolash in corruption, and past his epiphany about how the world is doomed anyways he wants to take people to the """better place""" (?) with him; be it by assimilating them into his body or be it by teaching them how to mingle with the horrors of the Deep on their own accord! I guess the 'still caring' aspect is just common Dark Souls thing, huh. BB guys just go 'fuck you plebs I'm out' fdshjsdhsd

I imagine Aldrich being giddy like Micolash, but with far more energy and genuine joy about his ramblings, however morally twisted, whereas Micolash feels completely lost in his madness and laser focus on reaching Kos, only acknowledging the Hunter because he is being hunted lol. Micolash feels very... sleepy, for a guy that spends his boss battle running, if this makes sense? Aldrich likewise emits strong excitement for what he witnessed but also wish to share it with allies and victims both. Whereas Laurence is revelling in how 'holy' and 'heroic' he is by doing things for humanity that no one else would dare, Aldrich would have less egotism about it and go more the 'don't worry guys I have a plan for us all you can trust me!' route. Less focus on how great he is and more focus on some twisted "reassurance" for everyone that everything will be alright.... that he secretly hopes would not work because people being scared and desperate is more fun for him 💀

I also have fun taking the line 'a right and proper cleric, only, he developed a habit of eating people' seriously, as in, he funny enough does try to be "good" despite what he's doing fdsdgfs That would mean not getting prideful, being generous and inviting, not holding grudges, all that. And all this comes naturally, he barely has to put an effort in it? He naturally smiles often, giggles between sentences and laughs off most of the unpleasant things, he gets smug but in a self-confident way, not in an insecure asshole way. It is just very hard to get to him, his self-esteem is as thick as his body I swear fdshdshfd Honestly, he'd be a very pleasant male mom friend (not to be confused with dad friend) in a way less insane setting? XDDD LISTEN I know it sounds weird, but you are a writer with a very strong intuition, you can probably paint the vivid picture from my (sorry) attempts at describing.. Actually, here are a few examples from when @val-of-the-north wrote his dialogue:

I absolutely love this vibe. Basically from time to time I ask Val to "talk" with me as a character that has no dialogue in canon, because Val is an actor (like, seriously) and always psyched for breathing more life into characters that never spoke in canon. Dude you should see how he depicted Sulyvahn and Alberich, I am still impressed so much, he's crazy good???? What we do is that I share the vision and very precise descriptions of what I imagine about the character (as what I literally just did above), and Val cooks according to my recipe as someone who actually knows how verbal communication works xd An autist and an actor the best team-up!!!!!!!!

I hope this helped though! (Use it to write a more unsettling shitpost skits if you want to fsdjsdfh)

[rnisa]

Hello! I hope youre doing well. Can I please request Wammy boys + Light on how likely you are to trust them to watch your drink at the bar Thank you

I - N-NANI?! Also thank you, I am doing very well, yes! This request threw me for a loop LOL, took me a second to compose myself, very funny. I hope I answered this correctly! If you meant something else and I misunderstood, I apologize! Please feel free to let me know if I did this wrong asdfhjk;;;;

a/n: all memes aside, in my city there have legitimately been a lot of druggings lately, specifically at bars. please don't leave your drink unattended for even a second - if you look away from your drink, just chuck it.

˖ ⁺ .︶꒷꒦︶︶꒷꒦︶︶꒷꒦˖ ⁺ .

How Trustworthy Wammy Boys and Light Are to Watch Your Drink at the Bar

Mello - very trustworthy ★ Despite being an actual gangster, Mello drinks respecting women juice first thing in the morning.

★ He would be the one vigilantly keeping an eye on you, staring down any person giving you unwanted glances, and draping his arm around you - even if you aren't romantically involved - just as a warning to anyone who might have ill intentions.

★ Would straight up just shoot a bitch in the skull if they attempted to spike your drink.

L Lawliet - no 'cause he's gonna add weird shit to my drink ★ L is the one to actually spike your drink ... with sugar.

★ Think of Buddy the Elf.

★ He's adding tons of sugar to your already fruity drink, honey, syrup...you name it.

★ The only thing you're at risk for here is getting a sugar high and then crashing. Or throwing up. Or just being really, really mad at him for ruining your $14 drink.

★ As for watching your drink in general from others, expect him to intimidate the fuck and make a fool out of whatever sorry idiot tried.

★ Wouldn't want to stir a scene, but if it got physical he would kick the hell out of'em and get the both of you out of there as soon as possible.

Near - relatively useless in this situation but does his best ★ Let's face it, Near wouldn't be far without Rester or Lidner in the first place.

★ So that's three (3) tough p-

★ I mean two (2) tough people watching over you, and protecting you. And there's also Near but physically he's pretty useless.

★ However, if there were an instance of someone even thinking of spiking your drink, he would know. He is already concocting a plan of how to get them arrested.

★ Will catch their ass in 4k and likely trick the perpetrator into giving it away, then happily watch as the cops come to arrest'em.

Light - absolutely not ★ Okay sorry not sorry but Kira!Light would probably actually spike your drink himself. But not in this context? ★ He wouldn't hurt you but if you were close to finding out who he was and he liked you, he'd drug you so you're knocked out and then play off whatever conversation was happening prior to this as you having a dream, or being irresponsible and drinking too much.

★ Aka, gatekeep, girlboss, gaslighting you.

★ HOWEVER, as far as watching your drink at the bar, I can honestly say it depends on how he feels about you.

★ If he doesn't give the slightest care about you, or if he finds you annoying or worthless in some way, he doesn't care what happens to you - but he still would not let anything happen to you in his presence, and he most certainly would not let the criminal get away.

★ I can see him being sick enough to actually allow you to become drugged for his own amusement, but after witnessing that he would make sure to find a way to get their name and write their name in his death note.

★ Afterwards - if Light actually likes you, he would take you home and make sure you're alright. Again, I do think he's pretty fucked up and over time as Kira, as more and more of his humanity is lost, he would kind of be amused by this.

★ However, if Light loved you (where very few people of course fit into this category, and being "loved" by Light really isn't a whole lot) he would be absolutely pissed if somebody tried this. He wouldn't let it slide, of course - consider that person dead. However, Light's toxic in that he would be mad at you for "putting yourself in that situation". He would be even more protective, and constantly remind you of what could have happened, if he wasn't there, and guilt trip you into not going out to bars further.

★ If Light doesn't really care for you, I can see him doing the bare minimum and contacting someone who actually cares about you explaining the situation so they could go and get you. Still, he wouldn't allow a crime to take place so aside from being drugged, you would remain unharmed, and the person who tried to hurt you would die regardless. Either way, you're safe.

Sorry these were a bit short except for Light's! I don't force myself to write a certain amount for each, I kind of just go with the flow. Overall, none of them would let anything happen to you - aside from Light - but you would come out of this unharmed. All are trustworthy because, their differences aside, all abhor crime in some way.

[nartblartmallcop]

oh yeah, one more thing or my last hurrah of my dhmis fixation! i thought i might share all my hc lore notes for the main important characters. its not entirely done, i got through like half the research i wanted to do for radley and quentin and got in pretty much none of the reasearch i wanted to do for gilbert BUT the broad strokes are there. and i thought id finally give you all some context for the weird insanity i always drew of those three boys

CW for violence, racism, homophobia, murder and attempted suicide

also heads up for canon divergence

basics

the most important year is 1955

that's the year the guys were brought into The Puppet Purgatory or whatever you wanna classify it as (P.P. For short)

the characters leave the P.P. in 1983

time flows like shit there, it's a mess and everything is pretty much runs on the express goal of Fucking With You

the puppet aesthetic of the P.P is a manifestation of Leslie's own childlike and simplistic view of the world, if someone else had created it, it would've looked completely different (for example if Quentin somehow did it it'd be styled like a film noir, and Gilbert would've turned it into a nature documentary)

yellow guy: Gilbert Ratcliff

born in 1934

21 in 1955

27 in 1983 (age was frozen for almost the entire time he was in P.P.)

grew up as a member of a secluded community, similar to Mormons, called The Community

The Comunity is a small village hidden within Ashtown Forest, containing roughly 800 members

he's always been a very smart and curious boy, despite The Community's best efforts to keep him just within what they permit their people to know

his curiosity was only ever encouraged by his closest childhood friend, Leslie, who also loved learning new things and exploring the world

surprisingly however, Leslie became furious with him when he said he wanted to leave The Community and move somewhere outside of their woodland town

he left anyways and found his footing working for a diner in southern London, where the owner didn't care that he didn't even graduate high school (“well you don't need an education to serve food”)

this diner was visited often by a local college student named Radley, who would often have dinner there or just stay somewhere without a colour bar

Gilbert and Radley talked about all sorts of things whenever there was a lull in business, with Gilbert's curiosity usually driving the conversation

however, one day he was ambushed by Leslie who missed him too much and wanted to take him back with her to The Community, and keep him from leaving again through an old occult ritual

this is also why he's kept young and clueless via empty batteries all the time, Leslie does not want him to leave her ever again, she wants to keep the Gilbert who couldn't see the funny side, was always so curious and sweet but who doesn't actually break the rules

red guy: Radley Gayle

born in 1932

23 in 1955

48 when he escapes The Puppet Purgatory in 1983 (age got frozen for a few years)

came to Britain from a British colony in Jamaica to go to college

dreams of creating a kids T.V show that could teach black children about the world around them (emboldened by television act of 1954)

member of the West African Students' Union (WASU)

acquainted with Gilbert before they were sent to P.P, witnessed his murder and had to be killed as well so there'd be no witnesses

somewhere in the middle between dhmis times and 1955, Radley makes his way up to Leslie's room and gets a bit too confrontational about escaping the P.P for her liking

she rips off his lips as punishment

the wound does not go away, as it happened outside of the lessons of the P.P, not to mention caused directly by the person in charge of the Funny House

he grows a beard to cover it up

duck: Quentin Corben (Indian last name Chabra was only by his family in private)

born in 1930

25 in 1955

53 in 1983 (only one who aged normally throughout their entire stay in the P.P.)

his mother and father were both Indians who lived in Britain due to work (His mother having been a domestic servant and his father a lascar)

they all wanted to fit into Britain as much as possible to minimize the discrimination they'd face, this meant that Quentin had next to no connection with his Indian heritage beyond knowing a bit of Punjabi

his father had to help with the military boats during WW2, dying when one of them was bombed

after this, Quentin's mother quickly married a white British man, half out of love but mostly out of fear that she would be discriminated against more intensely if she wasn't married, perhaps even lose her home

maybe they had a couple of kids to, leading to Quentin having a half-sibling or two idk

after that, the expectation for them to “mold into whiteness” became more intense, the step-father not really doing anything to lessen it

Quentin didn't really care, he had other things to worry about

like being gay and closeted

he used to spend a lot of nights and weekends at gay bars

sometimes performed songs there, he was quite popular with the other queers

one night a group of cops who recently found out about this secret gay bar storm the place

Quentin, still wearing a fruity as hell outfit, escapes and runs home, unfortunately he gets caught in the garage by his step-father

his family interrogate him, figure out he's a homosexual and all hell breaks lose

Quentin is beaten thoroughly by his step-father and has a bible shoved in his face

in an outburst of rage at his family's betrayal of him, Quentin sets the bible on fire, his mother promptly drops it and as another sign of his newfound disownment of his family, Quentin kicks over a gasoline canister

he turns and exits through the back door of the garage he came in through. his family however is not so lucky. The flames spread to the banister and the roof of the garage, the house's big garage gate would be the family's only exit but the door has been severely busted for many months and its inability to open becomes their doom as the roof collapses and they all die

Quentin, now horrified that he just killed his entire family and got away with it, runs away. He spends a few weeks being homeless but eventually decides to spend his last money on a rope, go into the nearby forests and hang himself to atone for his sins

while he struggles to tie the noose, (because I need that boy to be pathetic <3) he is found by Leslie, who is dragging two bags of corpses behind her to her home in The Community

long conversation short, because Quentin wants to atone for his sins either way, and because Leslie takes pity on his inability to do so much as to tie a noose, they agree to let her stab him and make him another part of the ritual

and so this stranger from nowhere is sent to the P.P.

Leslie (last name pending) (or maybe they just don't have last names in The Community)

22 in 1955

50 in 1983 (allthough doing the ritual made her body age faster due to how draining it is on the body)

always a jolly soul, Leslie was nice and encouraging to everyone she knew in The Community, though her favourite friend of all time was Gilbert

she didn't really care that he left The Community, but she was utterly heartbroken that he would ever leave HER

shortly after his departure, she finds an old ritual of The Community, to send someone into a special dimension dedicated to atoning for wrongdoings and learning new values

determined to carry through this ritual, she sets out to find Gilbert

it takes her nearly a year to find him, but when she finally does, she kills him quickly and tries to leave right away but unfortunately she's caught in the act by Radley who probably forgot something in the diner or smth

she makes quick work of him as well and decides to take him along, since she's stalked Gilbert for a few weeks and knows that Gilbert and Radley are already well acquainted

she figures taking him along to the atonement dimension couldn't hurt too much, picks up Quentin along the way too

The ritual includes removing all organs from the sacrificed and to tie them to your own body. In the P.P. Dimension this manifests as Leslie's stitches in her face

she keeps all three of them with her and overall mostly just sticks to encouraging good behaviour and punishing bad behaviour as she sees fit

the teachers and lessons she sends the main trio are unfortunately kind of absolute trash because they are entirely based on her sheltered perspective as a member of The Community, but they do not turn violent within the first few years. It's just misinformation at first

Gilbert is mentally frozen in age quickly once Leslie modifies him to run on batteries (and consistently keeps him on low power so his mind cannot grasp at the world around him to try and ruin her fun)

Radley, who tried to lash out against the Puppet Purgatory a few times but failed and then became depressed, gets frozen in age for a little while where it seems like he won't do anything anymore, but it turns out that freezing his body's growth did not do the same to his mind and he went back to pushing against Leslie's control after a few years.

This distresses Leslie greatly mostly because if Radley could figure some things out despite being frozen, there's a good chance Gilbert will as well. Once she realised this she started regularly wiping the trio's memories of previous adventures.

Quentin dies the most because he actually did something fucked up in his life to “warrant” the P.P.'s torture (that being killing his family). This isn't Leslie's intention, its just the nature of this place acting on its own

since keeing up the connection to the P.P. dimension is kiling her, Leslie finally lets the three boys go in 1983

still unsure if she dies afterwards or tries to sort of "patch things up" (or at least apologize)

Bonus: Roy

a puppet character simply created to play the role of Gilbert's father

gained too much sentience after many years within the P.P and began actually seeing himself as Gilbert's father

as such, he found himself continuously emboldened by the 'father knows best' attitude built into his core character and eventually gained the power to take over the Puppet Purgatory Dimension

gaining sentience over the nature of his reality caused his body to get all gangly and fucked up and long, he looked more like a normal old guy before

his newfound control over the P.P. Caused the June 19th loop, a father's day on which he tried to teach his son all the lessons he ought to truly know

the teachers he created, however are far more hostile and malicious, leading to the fucked up lessons in the yt-shorts

the first ones, sketchbook and Tony, also ended up corrupting their versions of the main three into the big boys and bigger boys, which Roy was forced to take of once Leslie took control again

while some things such as the oil spill on Gilbert's clown painting or Tony the clock's screeching were planned, the really insane moments were unintentional consequences of Roy's clumsiness when running the P.P

he was just a figment from within with too much sentience after all, he didn't REALLY know how any of it should work

the unplugging at the end of Dreams is part of his willing relinquishment of his powers over the universe

despite being a bit of a fucked up cruel man, he recognized that his mingling has gone too far, and not really taught anyone anything valuable, except to be scared all the damn time

hence why the main trio was so hostile in the TV-series, they're all super on edge and they'd rather scare off the teachers than actually learn anything new now

that's also why Roy didn't really do anything in the TV-series, he's sticking to the background “as he ought to” (in Leslie's words)

as another bonus, have some pics of the three boys right before and a while after the puppet purgatory dimension (i was quoting "quiet mullet boy" to myself for weeks after making the second pic)

[yanderecandystore]

hellu, can I request how would Delinquents, teachers, and bullies react to female reader pepper-sprayed the twins for self-defense when they try to beat up reader?

Hello, it's been a while, I'm sorry it took so long- I've been dealing with a lot of school assignments and I can't lie that I have frequent breakdowns over this-

I'll try and upload the requests that I already have and see if I should open up for requests again, or leave it be closed until the waves of work I need to do gets less overwhelming.

I hope y'all are doing great, stay safe everyone.

I'll make this a very short scenario boo.

TW: this is basically a civil war at this point- // for each pair, I'll add a different context (since technically the delinquents aren't from the same institution as the bullies) // female reader // bullying // self defense // anxiety // bullying (verbal and physical) // mentions of stalker behavior and brief mentions of distrust and paranoia

🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭

Triple Spice combo [Yandere!Teachers / Yandere!Delinquents / Yandere!Bullies x F!Reader - Scenario]:

🎇Let me set the stage for a quick sec!🎇

So I'll explain what will happen- This is basically a post with three different timelines, each one based on each character type you're more interested in (example: you want some sour delinquents? You can follow the delinquent timeline and see how they react). Each follows almost similar circumstances, but still a bit differently to be able to fit for each individual timeline.

Come with me boo cause this one is long!

🎆: 🍒Bully's Timeline🍭

You have been the target of bullying for some weeks now, ever since you crossed some rich kids while going to your college. Unfortunately for you, they seem to be heading to the same location as you, apparently they also studied there- Although it should have been quite obvious. You're not the type to confront people physically, and you don't really feel like capable of fighting people of on your own, but because with their constant presence in your life you started to feel the need to get yourself prepared for what was going to come- Especially since you didn't feel like you could count on anyone.

You bought pepper spray in hopes of being able to stop your tormentors from continuing with their sick game.

That's when the incident happened, you were minding your own business when they came looking for trouble. You took the opportunity to finally put a stop on this by spraying their eyes with it.

✳️🍒Bullies🍭:

→ Alexandra Coldwell:

It was so fast and so painful that she couldn't even understand what just happened- Like- How dare you?! How fucking dare you?!! You think this is funny? This wasn't supposed to happen at all!

"- AAAAH!- what?- OH MY GOD-" Alexandra wasn't able to even finish her sentence, the pain was too much for her to handle. As she dropped to the ground trying to clean her eyes out, she couldn't help but feel confused as to what had even happened.

How could you do something so cruel to her?? Yes, she followed you, bullied you, made rumours about you, pulled your hair a couple of times and maybe she did throw insults towards you- But she didn't try to blind you!!

The worst part isn't even the humiliation she is going through, it's the fact you thought you would be able to pull a stunt like this and go away without any scars- She is so, absolutely livid by your stupidity.

Alexandra knows you must be liking this- And you know what? Enjoy your last free moments cause she will make sure you'll pay for it. She'll make sure to have a proper revenge under her sleeve, a proper punishment for harming someone like her in public.

Darling, darling, I hope you start looking behind your back from now on, never know what could happen when the person who is obsessed with you is just as insanely pissed off as they're madly in love with you.

→ Adrien Coldwell:

It was so fast and so painful that he couldn't even understand what just happened- Like- How dare you?! How fucking dare you?!! You think this is funny? This wasn't supposed to happen at all!

"- What- Oh my God I'm DYING!-" Adrien would be a lot more dramatic about it, even if he can articulate in great detail how much it hurts. In his panicked state, he started trying to wipe the substance with his sleeves- Which only helped to spread it more.

How fucking dare you not only hurt his precious eyes but also humiliate him on public like this?! What has gotten into you?? Yeah- I guess he did say hurtful stuff, followed you around to torment you, did throw stuff at you- But ya know- He didn't try to take your eyeballs out!?? Now that he thinks about it, he probably should have.

Adrien has a very weird view on your "relationship"- He thinks you're above him and so he must push you down, he loves you but being gentle with you will leave you to pull this kind of shit.

You're probably laughing to yourself now, the man is temporarily blind and you are laughing at him, you're somehow worse than he thought.

Still, he'll make you pay for it, don't worry about it dearest- You're fucked regardless. You tried to stand against him and now sadly he'll have to put you in your place again. Don't worry, it won't be so early- He still needs to prepare his plan.

Darling, darling, I hope you start looking behind your back from now on, never know what could happen when the person who is obsessed with you is just as insanely pissed off as they're madly in love with you.

🎆: 🍎Teacher's Timeline📕

You have been the target of bullying for some weeks now, ever since you crossed some rich kids while going to your college. Unfortunately for you, they seem to be heading to the same location as you, apparently they also studied there- Although it should have been quite obvious. You're not the type to get physical when it comes to defending yourself, but you felt that you still needed to do something about it- You talked with the only person you could trust in this moment, since they were your mentor and you needed some guidance from someone that could potentially help you solve this out.

Their idea was to be able to personally see the harassment happening so they could have visual proof of who is doing what to you, hopefully being able to expel the ones causing you harm.

They personally gave you pepper spray in hopes that if they aren't near you to help you, you can at least defend yourself in some way.

That's when the incident happened, you were minding your own business when they came looking for trouble. You took the opportunity to finally put a stop on this by spraying their eyes with it.

✳️🍎Teachers📕:

→ Matthew Robinson:

Although you thought to be in a situation where no one would be able to help you- Causing you to use your only item of self-defense- That couldn't have been further from the truth, as Matthew has made sure to pay close attention to you after you came by and ask for his guidance. It was a call for help and he would have been a horrible mentor to not make sure you'll follow his instructions, and it seemed like you did perfectly fine.

He got to be present to not only see the ones causing you harm, but also to see how well you're able to take care of yourself. He was going to intervene as soon as he saw them come closer, but you managed to stop them all by yourself- Honestly he is very proud of you for being able to stand your ground.

Since Matthew was able to see them starting the aggression just like many other witness surrounding the scene, he felt like he had an argument strong enough to be able to properly punish your bullies- Of course he is aware that the Coldwells have a reputation for getting staff members fired for trying to reprimanding them, but honestly he has been inside this place long enough already.

Getting fired isn't his problem, his problem is not being able to give them what they deserve for frightening you, and even worse than that: He needed to make sure you would stay safe in and out of college- You came to him saying they were following you outside of your classes, so of course he'll be worried for your safety.

After expelling the Coldwells, Matthew will just need to find a way of keeping you safe and under his surveillance, you may need more guidance after all, and it would be extremely worrying to not have you by his side. He just needs to plan out a better schedule for you two, one where he can be more present in your life after you're done with your classes.

I wonder what plan comes to his mind.

→ Madeline Allen:

Although you thought to be in a situation where no one would be able to help you- Causing you to use your only item of self-defense- That couldn't have been further from the truth, as Madeline has made sure to pay close attention to you after you came by and ask for her guidance. Madeline has been following you while you walked through the school's halls as she recorded every interaction you had with any of the other students. After you called her for help she entered full protection mode, she was set on getting your tormentors expelled.

However, Madeline hasn't been inside the institution to be able to earn the trust of the other teachers, or even the principal themselves- She needed some evidence and better witness testimony than those from students who were terrified of getting in trouble with the bullies around this place. You could say she had a guess as to who could be causing you trouble but she wouldn't be allowed to take action unless she could prove their identity and involvement in bullying you.

She gave you the pepper spray hoping you would feel less worried, to feel calmer in knowing you had not only something that you could use against them but also to symbolize how she would be there for you if you needed. Seeing you using it for the first time as you spray in the eyes of the culprits made her realize that she was in fact correct. Of course it's them, right?

If there is something wrong happening in Amaryllis, you can almost always pin it for being the Coldwell's fault. Bullying it's probably the least surprising thing this little demons have been accused of- Still, their rein over this institution and your worried little mind ends today, she doesn't care if she lost her job or if they try ruining her life by blackmailing her and such-

They can try but she is pretty sure they won't have any luck finding her, what can I say, she is good at burning evidence. What worries her though it's what will happen to you if they ever try to take their frustrations out on you again. She can't allow that to happen, you'll end up getting hurt and she'll feel awful if it was because of her interference in the case.

You need her help after all, right? You did come to her asking for guidance, and clearly you know nothing about physical self-defense- You clearly need someone to take care of you dearest. She needs to plan this out carefully, not only so the twins aren't allowed in school's grounds but to hopefully be able to guide you even if she is not your teacher anymore. But how could she have you near her everyday after classes?

I wonder what plan comes to her mind.

🎆: 🍋Delinquent's Timeline🐍

You have been the target of bullying for some weeks now, ever since you crossed some rich kids while going to your college. Fortunately for you, they didn't seem to go the same college as you did- Yet what you should have known was that nothing in life could have been so simple, you would still see them again over and over again after that incident. You started to feel anxious knowing that they were probably stalking you to know exactly when and where to find you, and since you already have to deal with going to a horrible institution and fearing for your own safety everyday.

You bought pepper spray so you could defend yourself not only from your stalkers but also from any possible classmate that could end up trying something weird with you.

That's when the incident happened, you were minding your own business when they came looking for trouble. You took the opportunity to finally put a stop on this by spraying their eyes with it.

✳️🍋Delinquents🐍:

→ Jackson Macnee:

He doubts you noticed that he was there when that happened, he doubts that you even care if he is staring at you at all- He always thought you were probably too scared of him to even tell him to stop, most people aren't scared of his appearance but are at least aware of his title, so they at least respect the path he walks. He is already used to this.

But let me tell you, to see the Coldwells come so near his territory seemed pretty interesting at first- Until he discovered why they were dumb enough to come here. He didn't know you were being bullied, let alone by these brats- He did notice you had changed your behavior recently, although he didn't pay any attention to it because he thought you were just getting accustomed with the way things work around Saint's Bernard hellhole of a place.

He was hoping that maybe you were just having issues with settling in- It is a rough place after all, and although he wishes deep down to be able to help you feel stronger he still feels like he shouldn't make you do something you don't want to. If you wished to talk to him, you should just go straight to him (even if he is aware of how terrifying that could be).

However, Jack was so far from the truth. His assumptions were confirmed fake after he saw the twins Coldwell treat you like he treated him- It was unbearable to watch, it was like he was seeing his past collide with his present self, you were reminding him of all the things he hated about himself, while also bringing his blood to boil in a desperate need to help you out. Yet he didn't need to do anything about it, you managed to defend yourself on your own.

It wasn't as rewarding to watch as he wanted it to be, but you sure did crack their ego pretty badly- He shouldn't have doubted you, after all he has been stalking you for so long, he should have known what you were capable of doing. Still, he doesn't trust the Coldwells enough to just let them run away like that, they would probably come back soon.

In the meantime, this should be a good excuse to get to talk with you, right? You clearly need some actual training, some flimsy pepper spray bottle isn't going to stop them from coming back. I hope you're ready to be trained by a lovesick delinquent, he won't be soft until he knows you can stand on your own.

→ Jannette Sartorius

She doubts you noticed that she was there when that happened, she doubts that you even care if she is staring at you at all- She always thought you were probably too scared of her to even tell her to stop, most people are scared of her. She is trying to get used to it.

Janette thinks she has every reason to observe you from afar, you're beautiful and you seem too precious to be in a place as horrible as this one, it must suck a lot for you to be somewhere like this-Seeing people like her.

She considered calling you to join her gang, but she is sure that you'll probably deny the offer- Physical confrontation was never your thing right? She can respect that.

Although you don't talk with her, or even interact with the other students at all, she did notice you were acting a bit more- Reclusive these days. Something was wrong, and sadly she would have to find out about it way too late.

Janette didn't know the twins personally, she knew they were rich and famous but- Yeah, she didn't really care about knowing anything about them, they're just some pretty faces amongst the others in the fashion industry. She does envy them a little bit, but tries to avoid anything relating to them since she feels self-conscious looking at their pictures. Now she has a new reason to hate their porcelain faces, they were stalking you.

They were stalking you and taunting you, and if you didn't do anything to stop them she would have already jumped in. They were alone, and honestly she doubts they have any idea of how to go one on one with someone- There is no way these brats have any experience in fighting, right?

Well, she didn't get to know that since they ran away after you sprayed their faces with pepper spray, clever girl.

She knows this is probably not the end of this, they did threaten to come back and hurt you for defending yourself. But you know- She doesn't plan on letting that happen, not again. Consider yourself lucky cause now you just got a new best friend who I set on protecting you.

Is there something wrong with that? Aren't you happy with being her friend? Well, you could just go to "girlfriends" if that's what you want- She wouldn't mind it at all.

Janette prefers to take care of you without you having to watch her beat someone's ass- But she could teach you a few things if you wished to, hey, spending time with someone so cool it's always nice, so of course she'll take every chance she can to spend as much time with you as possible.

🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭

[hello-im-not-a-possum]

YEEHAW IT’S MIDNIGHT WHICH MEANS IT’S AUGUST 1ST WHICH MEANS INK DEMONTH SO I CAN FINALLY POST THIS NOW:

1. Pride

Diversity win! There is not a single cishet in the hivemind of ink creatures (To their knowledge) that you slaughter on a daily basis to make yourself beautiful! AKA: Possum has a fuck ton of LBGT+ headcanons regarding the BATIM cast and is happy to use this DeMonth prompt to indulge them. (Set before the loop starts, but after Buddy Boris meets/befriends the lost ones.)

Malice flicked through the channels of her cameras, trying to find more prey in her territory, and stopped when she saw a gathering of the lost and the searching (and exactly one Boris, the most perfect one she had ever seen.) in the Heavenly toy’s lobby, their prophet was brazenly sitting on the side of the waterfall as if he did not fear the ink when he should have.

Her ears steamed with anger as she saw that group, it was far too large for her to deal with on her own and too far away from the Projectionist’s grounds for her to manage to lure him to them. But on the bright side, she could learn some important information from them, after all, with how casually the prophet was sitting and gesturing and how the other freaks in the crowd were responding, this was clearly not one of his normal sermons.

(“I still find it rather funny that almost none of us are straight and that the few straight ones among us are trans, it’s like all this time we thought we were sheep hiding away in wolves’ clothing among wolves, unaware that the “wolves” were simply other sheep in hiding as well!”)

[Funnily enough, I’d rather be a sheep than a wolf, I think it makes more sense for me to be an animal that’s helpful to others but also easily scared.] The Boris wrote on a typewriter. [Or at least, I wish I had some kind of input on what I am, but I doubt I’d make myself an animal…]

(“Speaking of which...”) The lost one next to the wolf whispered in his ear as she looked over his typing. (“How are you holding up, Buddy?”)

Instead of typing, the wolf drew himself shrugging and put a bunch of question marks around him, then stuck the drawn-on paper in his typewriter and added to it.

[It’s hard to think most of the time, Boris always seems stronger when I’m alone, but I know the Ink demon will find us if I stay with you, this hunger is driving me crazy, and I just wanna go home. But on the bright side, I don’t have to deal with periods, chest pain from binding, or people condescendingly calling me ‘Miss Lewek’ anymore.]

She turned on the sound in that room, watching them like one would watch a Tv drama, but what she heard caught her off guard.

“So as long as we’re being honest about ourselves with each other…” The lost one stood up and pointed accusingly at Sammy. “Were you and Joey and a thing all along before the machine came into the picture!?”

If she was drinking water, she would’ve spat it right back out. Sammy, with Joey?! In the latter’s dreams, maybe! Even a few of the other lost ones looked shocked at the question, the Boris even gasped loud enough for it to be audible.

“Technically yes, but not by choice, mind you.”

“WHAT THE FUCK?!”

What the fuck indeed random lost one. The angel wished that she didn’t hear that, but now that she couldn’t unsee it, at least it made a little bit of sense in hindsight. After all, in her eyes, they were awful enough to deserve each other.

“...Why?”

“It’s just, well... somebody had to keep his eyes from wandering to the lambs- err- younger, more naive, less experienced employees, not children (to my knowledge). And at the time, I really thought that he did at least care about me beyond our work relationships, at least a little bit…  But from what I’ve seen, I believe the only things he had ever truly loved were himself, and the idealized versions he had made of other people. His ‘dream versions’ of them, if you will.”

“And this whole time, I thought he was running off with Susie with all those lunch dates! Or where the three of you all… yaknow, *together* together?”

 “Not knowingly… However I wouldn’t put it past Joey to cheat on people. As for Susie... I did like her, maybe even love her in a way, but I doubt I could ever love her in the way she wanted me to love her, and-or love her carnally. I don’t even think I could fake it like I could for Joey, she was never signing my checks and wasn’t holding that over my head so I’d be too disgusted to even try.”

Malice was almost about to march down there herself and push him into the ink, but she knew this troupe all too well, and knew that sometimes this place worked on story logic, he’s now going to say something that alters the context of that statement enough to not justify her going over there and slam dunking him into the ink.

“Now that I think of it, I don’t think that I’ve ever loved… anyone in that sense. I can’t think of a single person or situation where the idea of doing that is anything other than gross at best. In fact, there was someone who was close to me a long time ago, someone who, while I have long forgotten now, would perhaps even be what one could consider a soulmate. Even then, the mere thought of doing that with them still makes me queasy…” The prophet sighed. “I suppose I am simply meant to remain alone in religious celibacy. A relationship of that kind would interfere too much with my worship anyway.”

"Ahh fahr foehck's sake... I can't believe dat it's dis foehckin stupid..." A more lucid, absolute giant of a searcher in the back of the crowd slapped his forehead.

“It?” Malice repeated curiously. “Huh… maybe it and I had more in common than we thought.”

“You're clearly a sex-repoehlsed asexual, you doehmbass! literally everyahne who's ever been in de dark poehddles at de same time as you figured dis ooeht befahre you ded!” He shouted through cupped hands. “celibate people are people who WANT sex, boeht dahn't poehrsue it fahr variooehs reasahns, dey ARE NAHT people who are desgoehsted wit sex to de point where dey legitimately throw oehp and feel 'ahrreble after doin de nahrmal vanella stoehff! Stahp foehckin foehckin people when you're clearly naht cahmfortable wit it, and you and future partner..s? 'll be 'appier wit yooehr rahmantic poehrsuits!”

The searcher, upon realizing that he had furiously sworn at the Prophet, their leader, the one who does not fear anything within the studio, not even the deepest depths of the dark puddles, and most terrifyingly of all; the former music director, he slinked into a puddle within the crowd in fear of being the target of reawakened ancient wrath. Everybody else looked back and forth to the prophet and back at the searcher who spoke out as they remained in stunned silence, even their eavesdropper was worried for his fate, even if in her case she feared how the show would end rather than his outcome. Surprisingly, and luckily for him, the Prophet broke the tense silence by laughing in that caught-off-guard tone of it.

“While you were rather… crude about it, what you’ve said does make a lot more sense then Joey being so bad at sex that he turned me away from men altogether, even if it is funny to assume that he was.”

“A-aye… and I can't believe dat you wrahte an entire foehckin sahng abooeht it! 'ow ded you naht get fired fahr dat?!”

“Good question, I wish I could remember the answer…”

[Maybe you had blackmail on Drew?] The Boris typed out and handed to Sammy.

“Yeah, maybe because you used to be so close to him, you saw skeletons that Joey would want to keep in the closet” His lost-one friend added.

“Like HIMSELF!” A voice from the back added, making the others in the room burst into laughter.

With the tension in the room gone, the group just went back to talking about either journeys they took to become comfortable with themselves, or the various past relationships that they had, or wished they had or in some peoples’ cases, all three.

Malice continued to watch them bitterly. It was as if they had either forgotten what the outside world was like to people like them or they simply didn’t care, and she wasn’t thinking about the ink that made up their bodies. Part of her envied how freely they had talked about themselves and each other, part of her felt like she had been smacked across the face, and a third part of her felt lonely. All of them seemed so happy telling their stories and building each other up, and here she was hiding away with her own story that she had wished to bury.

However, there was no iron clad law stating that she couldn’t tell them her own story. In fact, maybe if she came out of her own cage, made Sammy understand that big part of why voicing Alice was so important to her, made sure that it understood that as the very first explicitly female character she voiced, that Alice Angel was more than a beloved character to her, that she was a part of her, the biggest symbol of her own femininity, then maybe it would recognize the error of its ways. Maybe it would see how devastating it would be to be shunted aside without notice in favor of someone newer, prettier, ‘more feminine’...

She shut off the camera and thought it over, and she made up her mind. While she still didn’t want to share her story with everyone, Sammy needed to know it. Whether the Prophet liked it or not, she was going to pay it a visit.

[thequeenofmyownscreen]

Thirteen things I noted about CR2E48 “Homeward Bound” and the Talks Machina about it :

Sam's ad : i don't want to see those videos, Sam Riegel !!!! (I'm always amazed on how he doesn't have self-esteem and he knows what's good for comedy). Travis looks like he regrets all his choices in life that lead him to this table ; Marisha : "Don't let Travis lie to you, he's got a half-er" Oh I'm dying. This is the worst/best one yet.

Caleb still pretending he isn't interested in the huge mage tower on the quay, and asking questions about it "but just Beau and Fjord's interest, you see". Chef's kiss.

Travis RPing Fjord and his fish is amazing. This is why he went to acting school.

Nott : "Beau is horribly abrasive to talk to and sometimes look at." Jester : "That's not true ! (To Beau) You're beautiful and you're also really nice." Beau winks and blows her kiss ??? Hello ?????? Did I just witness a ship sailing ????

I get why Caleb was extremely mistrustful of this wizard, given his dealings with wizards (aka, The Torture and The Fire). However, if they're someone to trust, it's his teammates ! But I guess that's what it is to live with trauma. Sometimes there are steps that are too big, that come to fast.

Beau : "Worst case scenario, flash a guy, see what happens !"

I forgot that Beau hadn't told the whole truth about the Cobalt Soul and Dairon to the others...

Man, that scene between Beau and Caleb. Marisha and Liam are so good together, no matter what context. Also so funny to see after Bowlgate, they got closer, but still, in this fight, they were doing the exact same thing : they just couldn't understand what the other was saying, because they were talking about two different things while thinking they were on the same conversation.

What the fuck is going in Felderwin ? The damage is more extensive that what the rumours made !... And why are two archmages of the Cerberus Assembly in the town ?

My thoughts at the end : "wait... Brenatto ? I know that name, why do I know that name... ? Why does Sam has his extremely serious face on, that will definitely make me cry ?? What weird magic the guy is talking about ? WHAT IS THIS CHAIR. WHAT IS NOTT TALKING ABOUT, HER SON ???? AAAAAAAAH"

Sam Riegel is a crazy motherfucker that cannot be trusted and I love him

The chair questions continue on Talks, while Matt looks at the camera like he's on The Office and regrets everything he's ever did.

Matt reveals that the Mighty Nein meeting Yussa was a huge improv on his part, because he forgot they would maybe try to go in the magic tower, while prepping for the session. And that's how amazing he is : it doesn't show at all !!!!

[fanfic-corner]

Under 10,000 Words Pt 2

I promised (quite a while ago) and I’m finally delivering... more fics between 2k and 10k words! Same as last time, they are organised by word count for your browsing pleasure.

Walk Through Fire For You by purple_charlie on AO3. (2,335 words).

Tags: John Winchester’s A+ Parenting, Angst, Pride, Marijuana Use, Polyamory, Gay Cas, Bisexual Dean, Bisexual Gabriel, Everyone is Queer.

My Rating: 4 stars.

Description: Boyfriend. The word still feels foreign in Dean’s mouth, still brings back echoes of John Winchester’s thinly-veiled (if even that) homophobia. “Man up, don’t be a sissy, I didn’t raise a fairy”. It’s a swollen blister in the back of Dean’s mind, throbbing with pain whenever a stranger’s eyes linger too long on Cas’ hand in his, whenever a waitress double-takes at how close they sit in diner booths. But here, dirty dancing with Cas in a warehouse full of other queer folks, Dean wants to shout from the rooftops- I’m Dean Winchester, I drive the baddest car in town, I lift heavy things for a living, and this is my boyfriend.

Notes: This was so sweet it nearly made me start crying - Cas deserved to be told that he was loved!

Boneless Wings by PallasPerilous on AO3. (4,333 words).

Tags: Crack, Wingfic, Domestic Fluff, Canon Compliant, Angel Castiel, Suburbia.

My Rating: 5 stars.

Description: For those of you perving along at home, Dean could absolutely provide a list of the hundred or so ways that having a boyfriend with giant fucking actual wings is super hot and/or awesome. This is not that list.

Notes: The art is gorgeous and this is such a brilliant parody of so many wing fics out there, I loved it!

Stories Are Made Of Mistakes by wildhoneypie on AO3. (4,942 words).

Tags: Human Castiel, Diners, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Bisexual Dean, Sharing a Bed, Slow Burn, Slow Build, Case Fic, Domestic, Didn’t Know They Were Dating. My Rating: 4 stars. Description: In which Cas is human and doesn’t understand basic concepts like: clothing, Mythbusters, moisturizer, and Greek food. Dean is…Dean and doesn’t understand basic concepts like: boyfriends, language, how to tell your friend that he’s a walking miracle, and when not to quip. Notes: This was so cute and I live for human Cas. I also love the recurring ‘no fucking quipping’ joke in this, although the idea of Cas swearing broke me a bit!

The Cry of Elisha After Elijah by intothesilentland on AO3. (5,844 words).

Tags: Episode Fix-It: s15e20 Carry On, Post-Episode: s15e20 Carry On, First Kiss, Reunion, Canon Compliant, Heaven.

My Rating: 5 stars.

Description: The kicker is, Dean had been trying to live. Really live. And not bite out in anger at the fraying of his heart: Cas, gone, Jack, gone—all that was left was him and his brother, and Dean had been trying to live, in spite, in light of that. In a world like the unsteady first steps of a child, apprehensive arms and hands cradling the air around them, ready for a slip, excited for a step, Dean had been trying to walk forward, too. Though every step had meant every pain. Upon his death, and arrival in heaven, Dean sets out to find the angel. He has to tell him. Cas has to know.

Notes: That poem at the start was really moving in this context, and the dialogue was so weirdly in character that everything was so real. It was definitely written better than the actual ending.

My Own Little World by tale_to_tell on AO3. (6,858 words).

Tags: Hurt Dean, Protective Castiel, Meet-Cute, Fluff, Pining, Coffee Shops, Implied Domestic Violence, Abusive Alistair, Abusive Relationships, First Kiss, Human Castiel, Protective Sam Winchester, Dean Has Self-Worth Issues, POV Castiel, Love Confessions, Implied Sexual Content, Light Angst, Happy Ending.

My Rating: 4 stars.

Description: Castiel stumbles into a local café in order to avoid the rain, and during the process he meets a very attractive barista by the name of Dean Winchester. It doesn’t take long for Castiel to fall in love with Dean’s wit and charm.Too bad that Dean has a boyfriend.

Notes: This was fairly sweet, and I was not expecting the Sabriel content (always read the tags, folks). Also, return of Alistair being an asshole! I would have forgot he existed if he didn’t keep popping up in these fics.

broken when I’m lonesome by SailorChibi on AO3. (7,015 words).

Tags: Asexual Castiel, Demisexual Dean, Panromantic Castiel, Biromantic Dean, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, PTSD, Dean Has Self-Esteem Issues, Dean Has a Sexuality Crisis, Angst, Fluff, Touch-Starved, Comfort, Platonic Cuddling, Castiel is Not Oblivious, comments that could be taken as ace-phobic.

My Rating: 5 stars.

Description: After being saved from hell, Dean’s old methods of coping aren’t working anymore: he’s not sexually attracted to anyone, and he’s not interested in sex no matter how many times he climbs into bed with hot, naked women. Sam is convinced that his brother is just depressed, but Dean knows this goes deeper than that. He still craves the intimacy that can make him feel safe. Fortunately, Castiel is there to both understand and provide.

Notes: This fic really hit home. I’m not sure if it is because almost every person I have ever talked to has had some form of this conversation, but it was still cute.

Lost and Found by whelvenwings on AO3. (7,762 words).

Tags: Writer Castiel, Mechanic Dean, Demisexual Castiel.

My Rating: 5 stars.

Description: “Chuck Shurley? Sure, I’ve read his books. Kinda Vonnegut, but like, Kilgore-Trout Vonnegut, you know?” Dean took another gulp of his whisky, and smacked his lips like an adult. The guy sitting beside him at the bar, however, did not look suitably impressed. In fact, he was staring down into the bubbles of his cider, not even noticing the way that Dean was smiling at him, giving him the eyes. “I thought his stuff was pretty good, in a kinda metamodern way,” Dean added airily, and a little more loudly. The guy only nodded gloomily. Dean almost clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth in frustration. C’mon, dude, I’m trying to impress you. Twenty minutes of talking and all Dean had to show for it was a weird first name, a series of dour stares and the strangest need to know more about this – Castiel.

Notes: This was written so well that I wanted to cry at Cas’ story of the stars, even though it wasn’t particularly sad. Now I want to go and stargaze with someone.

Say Yes by MaggieMaybe160 on AO3. (7,996 words).

Tags: Episode s5e4 The End, Established Relationship, Secret Relationship, Drug Use, Fluff and Angst, Canon Compliant, Canon Divergence, POV Alternating, Love Triangles, Idiots in Love, Wedding Rings, Chronic Pain.

My Rating: 4 stars.

Description: Endverse!Dean's life is going pretty well with Endverse!Cas until Dean's past self shows up.A look at the episode "The End" from Season 5 from Endverse!Dean's point of view.

Notes: Quite cute, almost entirely canon compliant, and the ending gave me chills.

Carry On by Castielslostwings on AO3. (8,039 words).

Tags: Coda, Episode Fix-It: s15e20 Carry On, Heaven, Castiel Deserves Better, Love Confessions, First Kiss, First Time, Reunions, Explicit Sexual Content.

My Ratings: 5 stars.

Description: “I think I’ll go for a drive.” This is what happened between that moment, and Dean meeting Sam on that bridge.

Notes: This was written beautifully and was genuinely the ending that Dean and Cas deserved.

Unknown Quantities by xylodemon on AO3. (8,570 words).

Tags: Future Fic, Getting Together, Didn’t Know They Were Dating, Human Castiel, Bottom Dean, Angst and Humour, First Time.

My Rating: 4 stars.

Description: No one ever tells Dean anything.(or: Dean Winchester and the not-relationship crisis of 2014)

Notes: There’s more smut in this than I expected, but Dean is so oblivious that it is really funny.

Bing Crosby’s Pennies From Heaven by twentysomething on AO3. (9,613 words).

Tags: Castiel, Dean Winchester, Gabriel, Sam Winchester, Bobby Singer, Death.

My Rating: 4 stars.

Description: Sam always asks inappropriate, poorly-timed questions, so what comes out of his mouth doesn’t exactly surprise himself. “Where were you?”

Notes: This was brilliant - the little gifts that Gabe left for Sam were adorable, and I burst out laughing at the image of trying to get Bobby’s wheelchair on top of a toilet.

So there we are! I hope you enjoy these slightly shorter fics, and hopefully there will be another load of fic recs for next week!

[tardytothepardy]

Fruits Basket - Vol.15

You think you know someone, and then it turns out you really, really don't. At least, you know a very small portion of that person.

In a pretty hefty chunk of this book, we get a massive flashback into Yuki's childhood. As expected, it wasn't that great. What I didn't expect is how bad it was. It was,,, honestly a lot.

So, because he is the Rat Boy, and because I guess the rat is the closest to God in this whole situation, Yuki ended up being around Akito for most of his childhood. It wasn't ever really anything he wanted to do, it was just something he had to do. And from the short glimpse we get of Akito as a little kid, it seems like he didn't use to be anywhere near as bad as he is in the present (which makes sense). He seemed to have a short temper, but other than that, there wasn't anything unusual. Until one random day, that is. Akito kinda flipped his shit, and has been that way since. How nice.

As a result of always being close to Akito, no one else really wanted to be around Yuki. And after Akito cracked a bit, and started saying that Yuki wasn't wanted, that he was unnecessary, and that no one liked him, Yuki didn't much like being around Akito, but he didn't have any choice. Some time around then, Yuki's parents seem to have kinda sold Yuki to appease Akito, so he didn't even have his family to fall back on. Ayame, his older brother, ignored his existence as a whole. Have we even met Yuki's father in this entire series?

So when Yuki first heard of Kyo, how he was left outside, Yuki was pretty curious. He was alone, and so was this mysterious cat person. Maybe they could be friends? But, of course, the second that Kyo saw Yuki, he blamed Yuki for basically everything that went wrong in his life, just because Yuki was the rat, and he was the cat. Before this point, the whole Juunishi thing doesn't really seem to affect Yuki much, he doesn't seem to categorize people based on what animal spirit they have, but I imagine that after this incident, maybe that changed. After that initial interaction with Kyo, Yuki didn't immediately hate him, he was just sad and confused, but moving on, I bet it was excellent fuel to the fire.

(Oh hey I'll just put this here, that after Kyo yelled at him for "ruining everything" and that everyone would be happier if he just disappeared, he ran into his mom again. He was upset, and probably could've used some nice comfort. Instead of that, he got slapped in the face. So. -1 for Yuki's mom.)

Do you remember way back, probably around the first books, when Yuki brought up that time that he accidently turned into a rat while playing with some kids in elementary school? It went over that. It was already a sad scene, but now there's this additional context that when he was playing around with the other kids, that was basically one of the first times that he was truly happy. But after he changed into a rat, well obviously that had to be covered up, so all those kids that he was starting to make friends with were made to completely forget about him. He wasn't back to square one, he was at square zero, because now he had had a taste of friendship, just for it to be taken away and replaced with Akito (and probably other people) shaming him for having the audacity of being born as a Juunishi, because he totally chose to be like that, right?

Another slight detour, the hat. So the hat was originally Kyo's, but after he saw Yuki holding it, he just decided that it wasn't his anymore. And, oh my fucking god? The following panels are fucking heart wrenching, it's terrible. Did no one hear Yuki crying, or did they just ignore it? Like, I don't like kids, I can't handle them when they're screaming (why do they scream so much it's weird) or crying, but oh my god, that hurts me. That panel hurts me. He just wants a family that loves and cares for him, that doesn't avoid or ignore him. (Put a pin in this sentiment, because it pops up later.)

After a steady diet of this kinda thing, with Akito's acidic words, people's general distaste or indifference for him, he started being scared to reach out to others. (Personally, I kinda feel like screaming at these people, like wtf is wrong with all of them) It's here when he just seems to kinda shut off. All this time, he's still sickly, and feeling like your life is without worth (and having your world confirm it everyday) doesn't exactly make you fight to stay healthy, y'know?

And here's when Yuki kinda is given a purpose, because after Akito visited him when his cough was acting up, and basically asked him, "Are you going to die yet? If you're gonna do it, just do it already", he left the house, and ran out randomly out in town in the early morning, where he overheard Kyoko screaming to the police about how her adorable little daughter in her adorable little dress with her cute hair in adorable little pom-poms was missing and she was going to tear down the town to find her. He kept running down some roads, until he did actually find that adorable little daughter.

On his end, it seemed to be a series of "Well shit. What now?" after finding her, and only continued as Tohru saw him and started following after him until he led her back to her house. This whole thing, as has been explained in previous books, was basically the first time in his life where someone needed him, specifically him, to help them. And that feeling, of knowing that he was able to help someone, and that he was needed, even for a little bit, was enough to pull him through.

Then we're pulled back to present, shortly after Machi broke open the closet door with a chair where Yuki was stuck in, which was the main thing that even started this whole thing, where he's explaining kind of why he came to see and/or love Tohru in maternal way. Thing is, just like when that was revealed, I still don't blame him for it. She's very caring. I'll admit (like Kakeru, who has kinda been there sitting with Yuki this whole time, apparently in silence) that I don't wholly understand it, on a personal level, but I can see why he thinks that. It makes sense.

Now onto to wacky happenings and zany shenanigans! The school is making a play, and Kyo's one of the main characters (despite never really showing that he has literally any interest in acting or theater, but yaknow whatever) in a Cinderella play, with Cinderella herself being played as Hanajima! This has already been brought up in the last book, but I'm just reiterating for fun or something idk

Tohru's having a hard time fitting into the role of an evil stepsister, to the point that she's worried about slowing others down because she just,,, can't,,, make,, herself,,,,, be,, meannnnn omigod it's so hard ;-; Additionally, Kyo's just not showing up for rehearsals and stuff, he's not even bothering. Probably bc it's embarrassing for him. And with these two main problems (the show can't go on if Prince Charming doesn't know his lines, after all), the play is altered, ever so slightly, so that it becomes "Sorta Cinderella". What a marvelous title.

Let's go back to that pin I mentioned earlier, with Yuki wishing he could have had a family that loved and cared for him.

So, before some of this stuff with the play, Yuki brought up The Hat, of the "It was first owned by Kyo but he later abandoned it after seeing that Yuki picked it up, and later wore that hat when he led Tohru back to her mom" fame, in a very off-handed manner. I think he just said that Tohru still has the hat, in her room, that's she's kept it all this time. This throws some unpleasant memories for Kyo into the air, and leaves him rather bitter.

Leading back to the main scene at hand, Kyo kinda goes off on Yuki, saying that Yuki was lucky: he had a mom and dad, he was needed, he was involved in the family matters. He's had it easy, had the world handed to him on a silver platter, and that he'll never understand what it's like to hope for something despite knowing he'll never get it. (and both times i've read that so far, i just want to yoink kyo into the beginning of this book, like, no dude. your childhood was fucked up, but so was his.) He stops mid-rant, however, when he sees that Yuki is not fighting back, at all, and when he remembers something that (probably) Akito said, that Kyo just uses Yuki as something he can hate. Naturally, why would you ever want to feed into something that Akito would say, so he stops, but not before punching a hole in a window. Ow.

Finally, we've gotten to the play, the main event! Hiro, Kisa, Momiji, and Haru (among others) are there to witness the,, the sight? (Idk man it's 12:30am) Hiro is acting strangled, as per usual, trying to keep Kisa away from all the creeps, but also trying his small-child most to not Mess Things Up, as he has a slight history of doing throughout the series thus far.

The play in of itself is pretty funny, personally I think the narrator was doing the heavy lifting in this one. But more importantly, there's a point where "Cinderella" asks "Prince Charming" if all he ever wants out of life is to hide away from people, locked away in his own space, dying alone, (which I heavily doubt was part of the script, because,, whoa) and partway through telling her that he wouldn't affect anyone if he did do that, the "Stepsister" (Tohru) interrupts him, saying that would make her... she stops herself, but one can assume that the end of that statement would likely be that, if "Prince Charming" (psh nah this isn't about the play anymore) Kyo were to do that, she would get very upset, and generally not have a good time. And he had the audacity to be surprised about that like wtf man.

After the play, Yuki runs into a group of girls that are harrassing Machi, because she said that Yuki isn't like a prince. She didn't explain herself after saying it, and so I suppose the Yuki Fan Club (or whatever it's called idk I'd be surprised but also not if it wasn't called that) took offense to her disagreeing with her. After being pushed around (literally), Machi says that Yuki just seems too lonely of a person to be a prince, that despite being surrounded by people, he just kinda seems out of it most of the time. Now, is that true? It kinda seems so, so, props to Machi for seeing that, hopefully she's not going to be kidnapped and tortured (idk stuff happens). Hearing Machi say all that does kinda startle Yuki, but the fight itself stops after Kakeru makes a fake announcement about a photoshoot with Yuki that makes the bullies scatter away.

And that's basically the end of it. Although the flashback thing with Yuki probably didn't even take up a third of the book, it was still some pretty heavy stuff, so it's nice that it was offset slightly with the play. I don't really have much else to say about that.

[chameleonspell]

some random iriel words i found

[I just found this in my drafts, must have been there a few years, as I don’t remember anything about it. From context, I gather it’s answers I wrote to some sort of horror-themed OC question meme. I used to do a lot of these for character development when I was writing HTDC, but rarely posted them in case I ended up wanting to use the content in the fic. Might as well post it now? I have no idea if anyone else likes reading this stuff, but lmk if you do, I no doubt have a ton more somewhere...]

They have a premonition that something terrible will happen to them. How do they handle the situation?

Iriel would carry on as normal, because he has anxiety, so that's a normal Loredas, tbh. Perhaps some breathing exercises, or carefully modulated Calm spells. If, however, the premonition is specific and prophetic-sounding enough to convince him it results from an external source and not his own brain, then that's a whole different nest of scribs. Because that means that someone is fucking with him, probably a Daedra, and Iriel has well-documented reservations about the trustworthiness of such things. What situation are they REALLY trying to engineer, and why?

Do they have a fear of the unknown and things they can’t explain?

Not nearly as much as some people. Iriel has enough known-fears to contend with that something being unknown gives it rather an advantage, at times. Besides, he's a scholar. Unknown things are inherently interesting, because then you can research them, and test hypotheses! Sometimes to the point of almost contracting vampirism, because you can't resist touching weird-looking corpses.

What is the most disturbing thing they’ve ever seen?

I had to think about this one, because pitching Iriel through Morrowind involved subjecting him to a lot of disturbing things. Sixth House stuff is obviously designed to be body-horror nightmarish, and Ire's particular terror of skeletons meant that ancestral tombs were always going to be a trial. In terms of character turning points, though, I'm gonna say Rotheran was the worst thing he'd ever seen, the most upsetting. Because it wasn't just the slavery, or the sadistic games, or the Daedra worship, or the illusion-magic mind control (though that was all bad enough!). It was the dark things about himself, about his psychology and attitude to other people, that he believed he saw magnified and reflected there, triggering a spiral into self-loathing and despair, and the events of the next several chapters! Which... sounds really depressing, but was ultimately useful, in a gotta-lance-the-poison-filled-abscess-before-you-can-clean-and-heal-it kind of way.

What would they do if they witnessed an alien ship crash landing?

I like how this sort of question highlights the differences of the TES setting. Cosmology, f'rinstance, is rather a different affair. Space travel is occasionally a thing in the lore, but their "space" isn't the same as ours. The appearance of strange crafts from out of the air filled with unidentifiable creatures wouldn't imply "aliens!!!" to someone from Tamriel, but probably something more like: "oh shit what have the Telvanni made NOW?" or "please no more portals spewing horrors from another Daedric realm-o'-the-week, i am so very tired."

If they were a ghost, what methods would they use to haunt someone?

"If". lol. Iriel spends a fair amount of HTDC baaaaasically turning into a ghost, yeah? Insubstantial, invisible, losing all grasp on the material realm. And yet, he utterly fails to use his powers to prank people! Shani and Bodu agree that this is a tragic waste of ghostly powers.

Actually, this is another one where TES sensibilities might differ from ours. In Tamriel, ghosts are a well-documented spiritual phenomenon - the result of a lapse in burial rites, or, in the case of Dunmer, the successful product of them. Haunted houses tend to be places full of actual screaming spectres, rather than strange, poltergeist activity. Floating objects and suchlike would be more readily explained by a mage's mischievous telekinesis than the restless dead.

Anyway, to return to your question, a house haunted by Iriel is largely identical to one in which he is actually living. Either way, you may see little hard evidence of his presence, yet sometimes experience odd, herbal smells; indistinct, yet melancholic apparitions in the corner of your eye, and soft sighs just on the edge of hearing. You may also find your books mysteriously disappearing, and reappearing with the pages tea-stained and dog-eared.

How much would they have to be offered to live in a haunted house for a month?

"Let me get this straight. You're offering me an empty house... yes, fine, there are ghosts, but no real people... an empty house that everyone else is frightened to go near, so I'd have complete peace and quiet-- yes, yes, apart from the ghosts, I mean-- ...and I can do whatever I like there, and... let me be absolutely clear about this... YOU want to pay ME?"

("Hmm? Oh yes, it's been fine. Honestly, the dead are far less trouble than people think, especially the non-embodied kind. Simple wards and charms will do adequately if you want to keep them contained, but really, a little attention is all most of them want. They like it when I sing to them, actually. I did get one dreadful screamer, and had to spend a night traipsing around the cellar, scrabbling in the dirt until I found where the poor thing had been buried, but ever since I got the gravedigger to move him somewhere more comfortable, he's been a total sweetheart. Which is more than you can say for dogs or babies or Bosmer housemates, honestly.")

Could they stay calm lost in the woods all night by themselves?

It's funny... I'm sure Iriel's pa used to take him camping in the woods as a kid, and I'm sure Ire spent the entire time freaking out about weird noises, and generally having an unhappy, stressful time. And yet, upon being released from prison as an adult, he immediately vanished into the woods, and voluntarily spent multiple days and nights alone out there. (Three reasons: fear of civilisation, dissociation and drugs.)

After that, even once the drugs wore off, he'd become accustomed to wild places, and grown to feel safer there than in cities, where the dangers around him were harder to predict and quantify. Iriel is, in some ways, very unimaginative. His mind will create possible scenarios based on his experiences, but it won't invent implausible monsters from nothing, and he finds darkness comforting, rather than a source of horror. The woods at night are a good deal more peaceful and friendly than many other places he's spent time.

[jippy-kandi]

Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna Movie Review

I've seen the film. It was pretty good! Spoilers under the cut.

So, before I watched it, I did read a few bits and pieces of random spoilers. However, I did NOT read the novel – because I wanted to judge the film on its own merits and not be thinking about “what the novel did better”. But I knew things like most characters were sidelined, who the villain was, and how the movie ends. I still have not read the novel.

This is not a “proper” review of the movie -- because what’s the fun in that? You can google actual reviews of the movie by anime websites, if that’s what you’re after. These are just my personal thoughts, impressions and fangirl ramblings (I bias Yamato hard). Plus, a few comments from two others I went to the screening with for a different perspective.

It was like nerd city at the movie theatre, LOL. So. Many. Nerds. Some people even brought Digimon plush toys to the screening! I’ve never witnessed that before. It was great though, being surrounded by so many Digimon fans. I think the cinema was more than half full -- and this was an 800-seat cinema! 400+ Digimon fans? Whoa! I actually thought like only 20 people would show up, LOL.

I tried to put the following thoughts in “order” but some of it isn’t due to the nature of what they’re about . . . plus, I couldn’t 100% remember what order the scenes were in.

Screen time distribution (most to least): Taichi/Yamato, Koushirou, the 02 kids (roughly: Takeru, Hikari, Daisuke, Miyako, Ken, Iori), Mimi, Jou, a hamburger, a whistle, a beer, Sora. (Sora got shafted hard.)

Taichi was exactly just Taichi, which is 1000x better than tri. Taichi. He really did seem like a 22-year-old version of Adventure Taichi, beer-drinking and porn-watching and all. Thank you, Toei. Please don’t fuck him up in the reboot. (Although maybe that’s the idea?)

Yamato is the coolest motherfucker on a motorcycle. He looked SO DAMN GOOD in this movie. There were even a few gratuitous shots of his arse for no apparent reason, LOL. Or maybe that’s just me thinking, whenever he’s bending over or his back’s to us, “That’s a nice arse.” XD (HE IS THE ONLY 2D CHARACTER I THIRST FOR, I PROMISE. I’m actually engaged to Jungkook of BTS.)

Koushirou was the same old Koushirou we all know and love, doing smart stuff and generally being useful. He has no pointed interest in clothes or girls (Koumi began and died in tri., you guys). When it was shown that he was a company president, some people in the audience laughed, lol.

Takeru was pretty bland. I guess tri. Takeru will always be the definitive Takeru to me. This Takeru definitely evolved straight from 02 Takeru (who was also bland AF). But he was fine? I miss overly confident, charming Takeru. Also, where was your crush on your big bro??? lol

Hikari . . . was also fine? I don’t have much to say about her. I like tri. Hikari better (because she was cute? *shallow*). This Hikari was just serviceable. I think because everyone really is just playing second fiddle to Taichi and Yamato, they didn’t really add charms to the other characters. They just . . . serve the plot. And it seemed, at the beginning of the movie, that Takeru and Hikari were going to be in it a lot -- but they have most of their scenes in the first third-ish of the movie before disappearing until the end.

Daisuke was also exactly the same. But I’ve never been a fan of him, nor do I hate him (though he did get on my nerves in 02 sometimes . . .). I just don’t care about him, or any of the 02 kids, personally. :P

I don’t think Ken had a personality in this movie, LOL. He was fine, though. Serviceable. I’m sorry I lack opinions here, but there really wasn’t much to go on. He has no Kaiser issues or anything, he just seems like a normal, well-adjusted kid . . . with no personality, lol.

Iori didn’t have a personality either -- but everyone has always known that. Ha! XP He is just an extra reading lines. I found it odd that he seems so short though? I kept thinking he was still a 9-year-old because of the height difference between him and the others . . . I think Toei forgot that HE IS 17 AND THUS SHOULD BE VERY CLOSE TO FULL ADULT HEIGHT. Puberty is amazing, Toei! (Yeah, he can just be a really short person, I know. I wouldn’t have made that design choice, though. Especially when he’s short compared to Daisuke . . . who is short compared to Yamato . . . and Iori really is a midget.)

Miyako . . . it’s probably due to her voice actress, but she was SO LOUD. And I found her annoying because of it. In fact, she was the only annoying character in the movie to me. Loud people can be charming . . . but I didn’t find her charming. Sorry, Miyako fans. =\

Mimi has an e-commerce startup at 21, lol. OK, you go girl. She was definitely shafted, but she was in it a bit more than Jou I think, and definitely more than poor Sora. Probably a few minutes? Yeah, not a lot, especially compared to Taichi and Yamato. In one of her (four?) scenes, she loses consciousness and ends up in the hospital -- and Taichi, Koushirou and Jou are in her hospital room when Yamato bursts in and goes, “Jou!” You know, instead of acknowledging Mimi, THE COMATOSE FRIEND IN THE HOSPITAL BED. I just found it funny that’s how they chose to frame that scene. :P

Jou only had a few lines, but he was still in it more than Sora. But he is really just a doctor here. He could’ve been an extra hired for a doctor role and I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference, lol. Oh, Toei, please give all the characters almost-equal screen time in the reboot? Please???

Sora had like four lines and thirty seconds of screen time, TOTAL. I think the decision to hold her back from THE ENTIRE PLOT was SOLELY to have the scene where she reacts to Taichi blowing the whistle, so you know that the sound is going out of Neverland and reaching the real world (or whatever dramatic effect they were going for). I really think that’s it. That, or her voice actress did something terrible to Toei and they’re punishing her. :P

The movie basically opens up with Parrotmon attacking. Takeru was the first to be shown, then Hikari, then Taichi. Taichi is wearing those special goggles Koushirou made for him and he looked goofy AF lol. At one point, Greymon tackles Parrotmon into a building where you see some people inside running away from the rubble. My sister said (without knowing anything about tri.): “Does Tai not care that his digimon definitely just killed some people in that building?” I chuckled because . . . well. ;)

Yamato enters the scene COOL AS FUCK on his motorcycle (most of his entrance is shown in a clip that Toei released) and thank you Toei for doing that for him. He deserves a showy entrance. :) Although I do find it funny that he’s obsessed with motorcycles, given I still remember giggling as a kid at him NOT liking riding on the back of some guy’s scooter in Digimon: The Movie.

The music was nice and nostalgic and I have no complaints.

There is a quick scene of Yamato seeing a kid in a music store getting a harmonica, and watching a street performer singing. Obviously he’s thinking about his passion for music as a kid/teen (and his childhood in general?) and it was a nice touch. I think by the end of the movie you would’ve understood that Yamato was letting go of his past (childhood) and heading towards the future (adulthood).

A friend of Yamato’s makes a comment to him that Japan’s Self-Defense Forces are going to recruit him into the military due to his experience as a Chosen Child. Yamato replies, “that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard”. BUT . . . this is Kizuna telling you EXACTLY what is going to happen, lol. I actually “predicted” Yamato’s career path years ago -- but it wasn’t hard, as there is really only two ways it could’ve gone, lol. Military test pilot or commercial air pilot -- which one, especially given the context Kizuna just gave us, is more likely? ;)

Yamato is shown wearing GLASSES in class (looking nerd-hot AF). Toei Animation must not have researched Yamato’s astronaut career as intensively as I did, and therefore did not know that astronauts need 20/20 vision lol. Oh well, he can get it corrected. :p (Or, he doesn’t actually need glasses but WEARS THEM AS A FASHION STATEMENT. Because I can believe that. XD)

I think Yamato had about three different outfits in the movie? And he looked good in all of them. Are there people out there who think he’s not fashionable? I'd find that opinion strange, given the fact that the staff behind 02 and tri. were actively designing him as the well-dressed cool guy of the group. He wears exactly the kind of clothes the well-dressed cool guys at my high school/university wore. Sure, sometimes they force green tops on him purely for nostalgic reasons and it therefore clashes -- there is only so much you can do with a green top -- but overall, he is supposed to come across as someone who cares about his appearance. If you don’t think so, you’re either not into fashion or you aren’t aware of 2005-2010 fashion as a teen/young adult. (If Yamato was a millionaire, I’m sure he’d dress identical to BTS with super expensive clothes lol. But he dresses very well for a “normal” person. :p)

Taichi was shown with two of his friends who were asking him about his aspirations or something, and the guy looked like an unattractive nerd. My sister said: “I didn’t like how they showed Tai with sloppy friends, but showed Matt with good-looking people.” LOL. Her favourite as a kid was Taichi, BTW. XD;

Menoa and Imura were . . . OK characters. Menoa seemed likeable enough at first, but when her real intentions were revealed she turned into a typical, crazy, possessed villain. Imura was really just there to service the plot, like a necessary extra on set. There was nothing more to him.

Menoa’s English is terrible. And it’s very noticeable because she inserts random English words into her Japanese sentences, lol. I laughed when Koushirou told her that her Japanese is very good (because SHE IS ACTUALLY FLUENT IN JAPANESE . . . and not so much in English). Yes, I know it’s because it’s a Japanese voice actress -- but it was still funny every time she spoke heavily accented English, followed by fluent Japanese. :P

Menoa’s partner digimon, Morphomon, was cute in design. Eosmon was the villain digimon and was Menoa’s attempt at recreating Morphomon, who disappeared on her. Does this sound kind of familiar? lol

Omegamon devolves into Koromon and Tsunomon when fighting against Eosmon. Back in Koushirou’s office, Menoa explains that you only have a limited amount of time with your digimon before they disappear and that fighting accelerates it. Taichi has a circle of lights on his digivice that lose a bar of light every time he fights with Agumon. When the lights all disappear, Agumon will disappear. Koushirou and Takeru look at their digivices to check if they’ve got it – they don’t, and they are relieved. Yamato then checks his and . . . well. He has it. His eyes start watering and he storms out of the room saying something along the lines of his bond with Gabumon will not be broken. I FUCKING LOVED THIS SCENE. Top 3 in the movie for me, personally. We all have weaknesses. Emo Yamato is mine, lol. I like it when he gets so emotional he cries in front of other people. :3

The “porn stash” scene with Agumon at Taichi’s apartment was HILARIOUS. The funniest scene of the movie. Everyone in the cinema laughed so hard. It was Taichi’s reaction that sold it -- it was BRILLIANT. The magazines actually had girls on the cover wearing bikinis, so, at least Agumon kept his innocence! lol

Gennai randomly appears in Taichi’s apartment to confirm the thing everyone should’ve always known (but that they just made up for Kizuna and which DEFINITELY led to “creative differences” with Digimon series director Hiroyuki Kakudou). This, of course, would be the whole idea that the more you “grow up”, the more your bond with your partner digimon breaks until, eventually, they disappear. Does the idea have problems? Yep. Menoa lost her partner digimon Morphomon at age 14 because she decided to accelerate her learning and go to university . . . meanwhile, Koushirou is the president of his own freaking company and still has Tentomon by his side. Yeah, OK, Kizuna. And, sure, you can argue that it’s about BECOMING AN ADULT -- but I think you’d just be drawing lines where YOU want to draw them. How mature is 14-year-old Menoa to be an “adult”? Is Koushirou really not mature enough at 21? And what about Jou, who I definitely think is an adult in all sense of the word? And so on. So arguments about this I think are valid, but at the same time . . . it’s Digimon. I think it’s a flawed idea but I also just shrug and accept it as it is, lol.

I “love” how Gennai just pops in when it’s convenient to the plot. Hello Gennai, what’s dark Gennai up to? Have you seen him around licking underaged girls anywhere? No? You’re just popping by to confirm shit to Taichi? OK, cool. See you in the tri. sequel, never. (He actually does give Taichi a reasonable answer as to why the growth/bond thing was never brought up before: that it’s like talking about how long you have to live. I bought it.)

Yamato is basically the reason the 02 kids are even in the movie, lol. He asks them to investigate Imura and Menoa for him and they do so. They contact him later on with info and they ask that he take them out for okonomiyaki (which is awful by the way, lol) as thanks and he smiles and says he can do that. This is just a nice exchange between them. :)

Yamato eventually confronts Imura (or is it the other way around, lol) and Imura HAS A GUN. Which was surprising to me because I remember that in the English dub, Puppetmon’s gun was censored, so seeing a gun in a Digimon movie was a little surprising. Anyway, Yamato doesn’t seem concerned by the fact that this dude can just shoot him dead, lol. Gabumon is with him, but still. Imura can still kill you before Gabumon kills him, you know. XD But it’s all good because Imura turns out to be an undercover FBI agent who wants to arrest Menoa, THE REAL VILLAIN. I was spoiled with this so no surprise.

There is a scene where Yamato has his hand tenderly on Takeru’s face because he lost consciousness. It was sweet, but I would’ve liked it more if Takeru had more of a personality in the film so I could actually care about him, lol. Yamato’s such a caring big brother, though. :)

Yamato was perfect in this movie. PERFECT. I had a few issues with his characterisation in tri. (I think he was, overall, about 80% Yamato), but he was ALL YAMATO, ALL THE TIME here. He is my favourite fictional character of all time, so DEAL WITH THE BIAS. I love him and, honestly, Yamato>Taichi all day, every day. I totally understand you, Sora. DON’T @ ME TAICHI STANS. XP

The ONLY minor quibble I had was that Yamato asks Taichi if they should really try to save the other kids, because fighting means it speeds up their bonds breaking. My quibble is: YAMATO IS NOT FUCKING SELFISH. He’s SO selfless. He would fight to save the other kids NO QUESTIONS, even if it meant he’s accelerating the destruction of his bond with Gabumon. But I give this scene a huge pass because it basically had to go like that, because ONE person out of Taichi/Yamato had to be reluctant so that the OTHER person pushes forward and has a “hero” moment. And who’s going to get that “hero” moment? The actual hero and MAIN CHARACTER of Digimon, Taichi, of course. SO I GET IT. I even agree and would’ve written it that way too, for Taichi to be the leader and reassure Yamato that this is what they’re doing (unlike in tri. where Yamato 1000% deserved the mantle of LEADER and Taichi could’ve whinged off the edge of a cliff and I. WOULD. NOT. CARE.). BUT I will still rant about this 30 second scene in my blog and scream to the universe that Yamato Ishida is the most selfless fictional being on the face of the planet and you better fucking know it. :)

Menoa is Maki 2.0. As soon as Menoa is revealed as being behind the evil stuff, she is instantly psychotic. So Maki 2.0 she definitely is. But . . . I don’t really care. Could Toei have been more original? Yes. But I can’t be bothered to criticise them for recycling a plot, because I’d rather criticise tri. for doing it in the first place, LOL. OK, honestly? At least Menoa’s plot had an actual resolution, instead of Maki being revealed and then . . . fucking off out of the entire series so abruptly. Like??? Kizuna followed through with it, tri. did not. That’s why I’m OK with the rehash, because Kizuna did tri.’s plot better. (Maki’s plot would’ve been good if the tri. writers didn’t get lazy AF at the end and just . . . didn’t . . . finish it.) I might also be giving Kizuna a huge pass because it made me feel things, lol.

The movie really picks up after Menoa reveals her intentions and they end up in Neverland (a place she created in the Digital World?) where she claims all the Chosen Children can stay as children with their partner digimon forever. It became a lot more interesting after that. But that’s also near the climax, lol.

In Neverland, all the kids who have lost consciousness are in their child forms (from the first season) and are basically Menoa’s puppets. This was really cool; it not only gave you nostalgic feels to see them like that, but it was also pretty creepy to see them with glowing red eyes. The Chosen Children, as kids, attack Taichi and Yamato. I laughed when Patamon attacked Yamato’s face and Tentomon tackled Taichi, lol. But I have to say though that Sora’s absence was VERY glaring here. Because . . . everyone was there, but her. :(

Other Chosen Children from the past are present in Neverland too. I FREAKING SAW MICHAEL, MIMI’S AMERICAN FRIEND, STANDING BEHIND HER. I was so surprised at his appearance that I didn’t catch anyone else. There were definitely others, but I didn’t make them out at all because I was so caught off-guard with Michael. XD; (I DON’T EVEN GIVE A SHIT ABOUT HIM, LOL.)

Someone said that Taichi called out Meiko’s name in the movie . . . well, I’m pretty sure that Yamato does, and he calls her by her last name, “Mochizuki”. This is when they’re in Neverland and Menoa shows them her “collection” of Chosen Children. Meiko pops up for one second. It was like Kizuna went, “Oh! Hey, tri. existed by the way. Now let’s move on.” lol

While being attacked by the Chosen “puppets” in Neverland, Taichi manages to reach his hand out and grab Hikari’s whistle and blow it -- effectively “waking” them all up from their puppet states. Everyone in the cinema got hit with audible FEELS, because when Taichi blew Hikari’s whistle the screen flashbacked to that scene from the first movie. I found the collective audience reaction more powerful than the scene itself, lol. But I really liked it, too. :)

So while everyone else is in Neverland . . . SORA IS IN HER APARTMENT HUGGING PIYOMON. Thanks, Sora, you’re a real friend. *cough* After Taichi’s whistle blow, she intuitively knows what’s going on and says she believes in everyone . . . THANKS AGAIN, SORA, YOU CHEERLEADER. OK, look: I do think it is pretty selfish of Sora to choose not to fight. I understand all the reasoning behind it, I even think SHE DESERVES TO BE SELFISH FOR ONCE etc., and I am fine with it -- but I still think it’s selfish. Because it is. And that’s OK, nobody is perfect, and people are selfish from time to time. If only it wasn’t glaringly obvious that her selfishness happened only because Toei just wanted her out of the way for most of the film . . . her absence, as stated before, really was noticeable in scenes where literally everyone else was included but her. (I’d also just like to point out that her voice actress was STILL CREDITED THIRD after Taichi and Yamato in the ending credits. LOLing forever -- such little contribution, such big recognition. XD)

But don’t get me wrong, I love Sora. I really fucking do. Taichi used to be my second favourite character in Digimon for a long, long time -- but Sora managed to dethrone him from second place (fucking Yamato probably helped, LOL). I think, screen time-wise, Kizuna did her a bigger disservice than Our War Game did. Yes, let that sink in. Remember how little she was in that movie? It’s worse in Kizuna. But story-wise and character-wise? Kizuna probably did better, because Sora was angry over a hairclip in Our War Game lmao. If you haven’t already, check out her memorial story short “To Sora” that Toei Animation released online. It’s six minutes of Sora . . . which is 5 and a half more minutes than in Kizuna! XD;

There’s a scene where Agumon and Gabumon tell Taichi and Yamato that they like watching them grow up. It was very touching, but also very brief. It was one of my favourite moments though. It made me have quick flashbacks in my mind of itty bitty Taichi and Yamato growing up into who they are now. The enormity of everything they had been through since the first season. THE HISTORY. THE GROWTH. It hit me right in the feels.

Taichi and Yamato’s homoerotic-ness was actually toned down a lot, especially compared to tri.. They don’t have forced disputes where they get angry at each other and the gay sexual tension shoots through the roof. They’re just . . . friends. Two dudes who drink beer together and moan about their lives. The partnership between them and their digimon were the focus of the movie, more so than the friendship between them. I actually liked this, and I usually care more about the human connections over the human-digimon ones.

“Shipping moments” – if you squint hard enough. Takari: At the start, Takeru shields Hikari from harm. Sorato: While Taichi informs Yamato about the lives of some of the other Chosen Children, Yamato lets Taichi know what Sora is up to -- that she’s seriously studying flower arranging. Kenyako: Ken asks Miyako, and only Miyako, if she’s OK (when Daisuke is right next to her). Taiora: Sora says Taichi’s name when he blows the whistle in Neverland and she hears it all the way in the real world. (My sister legit whispered to me: “SHE DIDN’T SAY MATT’S NAME.” BITCH, he ain’t the one whistling! XP) Now, Digimon Adventure tri. shipbaited hard -- but Kizuna did not do this. All of these very small moments felt very organic and passed as if they were a natural part to the story, instead of something shoehorned in with the explicit purpose of shipbaiting. I really liked this approach. The Sorato one in particular (surprise, surprise) said a lot about Yamato’s relationship to Sora without being explicit about it. He knows what she’s up to when her childhood best friend doesn’t? Yeah, those two are definitely hooking up after classes. :P (I jest. But it does tell you with one sentence that Yamato and Sora keep in touch, which I appreciated. You gotta do that if you’re having babies together within the decade, you know?)

There were next to NO evolution sequences. I might remember it happening once or twice? Max. And . . . that was a REALLY lame choice. Especially when Agumon and Gabumon evolve to their newest forms; Taichi and Yamato are just floating with them up into the air and then, poof, the new evolutions are shown. Google tells me they’re just called Agumon -Bond of Courage- and Gabumon -Bond of Friendship- respectively . . . they were not named in the movie. Here’s the thing: I don’t really care about digimon and evolutions. But it was so underwhelming; they really should’ve amped it up with an evolution sequence to be like HERE BE THESE NEW AWESOME FUCKING DIGIMON ‘bout to kick your arse. It seems like such a no-brainer that I really don’t know who would sign off on a evolution sequence not happening. Oh well. As for the designs? They are OK, but definitely could’ve been better. I think “cool AF” when I see Omegamon and all his forms. I don’t think that of these new evolutions lol. (But my sister liked them and thought they looked cool, so . . .)

Also . . . the fighting scenes in this movie were pretty bad. Very underwhelming. Our War Game and Diablomon Strikes Back did a lot better. I both like and dislike the animation style in Kizuna. I do actually like the art of it, like how it looks. But I kinda dislike how it’s actually animated, because it doesn’t really look like they’re moving fluidly enough. It’s a bit too choppy. I just expected the fighting/action scenes to be more exciting (I was hoping Our War Game-level) and of a higher standard. But they are not, unfortunately.

Everyone in the cinema audibly GASPED when Taichi and Yamato were just talking to Agumon and Gabumon after the final battle, and then they turned around and they . . . just . . . disappeared. And then Taichi and Yamato CRIED. SO. HARD. And I actually started repeating in my head, DO NOT CRY, DO NOT CRY, lol. I didn’t cry! Almost, though. :p I really loved this scene. And I really think, narratively, it would’ve worked A LOT better for the movie to end on this scene. The actual ending scene that comes after it felt a little too out of place and tacked on to me. More on that later.

There was a small smattering of applause at the end of the movie, lol. But I did not clap, because I find that weird. :p (Even though I clapped, alone in my house, when Parasite won Best Picture at the Oscars LOL.)

The ending credits showed different photos of the kids. Unfortunately, I . . . don’t really remember most of them. XD; I think I saw Sora arranging flowers? And maybe Daisuke and Ken having dinner? I definitely saw Iori doing kendo, because I thought it was cool. And the one photo I definitely remember for sure: Yamato standing in front of a space shuttle. I stan astronaut!Yamato so hard, you guys have no idea how happy it made me that he’s pursuing his dream omfg my little baby boy. XD;

This is definitely Taichi and Yamato’s movie. Everyone else is just playing supporting/cameo roles -- some more than others, as outlined way above. (Well, except Menoa I suppose . . . and Koushirou to the extent that he’s just needed to be the Digi IQ.) But if you’re NOT a fan of either Taichi or Yamato? I think, though you’ll probably love all the nostalgia bits, you’ll also be really disappointed -- especially considering this is supposed to be the final instalment of the original Adventure continuity. It’s a great “love letter” to Taichi and Yamato specifically, but not for the other characters, sadly.

I saw the movie with my sister (a non-fan who used to like it as a kid) and a friend (a casual fan now, but she used to like it a lot years ago). I’ll refer to them as “S”(ister) and “F”(riend), respectively.

After the movie ended:

S: “Did you cry? Because two guys beside me were literally sobbing. SOBBING.” *Judging.* (LMAO.)

What was our favourite part of the movie?

Top 3 scenes for me were Yamato storming off with his eyes watering when he realises his bond with Gabumon has an expiry; the brief “speech” Agumon and Gabumon give to Taichi and Yamato about wanting to see them grow up; and Taichi and Yamato crying at Agumon and Gabumon vanishing. EMO EMO EMO.

S: “Sora doing fuck-all.” (LMAO.) F: “Yeah! What was up with that? It’s like they forgot she even existed.” S: “Sora is just a cunt.” (Note: S has a dry sense of humour and isn’t really being malicious. BUT . . . I do think most viewers watching Kizuna would have a poor opinion of Sora in this movie . . .)

F: “I liked the 02 kids. I guess it was mostly Davis. And I liked when Veemon was riding on Armadillomon’s back and Wormmon was trailing behind. It was just this random thing but it was funny. Maybe I just like making fun of Wormmon.”

About the idea that growing up affects your bond with your digimon:

S: “What I took from it was that you shouldn’t grow up too fast. Cherish your childhood, cherish your memories. But, eventually, you do need to grow up.”

F: “I don’t understand how this whole “Digimon disappear when you grow up” thing wasn’t known. Weren’t there older people with Digimon before? You’d think they could have made a more specific threat that was just affecting their digimon, not be like, “Yeah this happens to everyone, it’s just a fact of life that we’ve never addressed before.” It felt a bit like they were telling the audience to grow up and get over Digimon.”

What would we rate the film?

I probably have to watch it again to give a definitive score, but at the moment, I give it about a 7/10. It was good, but not great. The last half was pretty great though -- it definitely started out slow (there was a lot of exposition via Menoa vomiting words). Is it better than tri.? Chapter 3: Confession, no. Confession is better, I think, but I also haven’t seen it in years. But the rest of tri.? Probably. Especially the pile of shit that was Chapter 6: Our Future. *cough*

S: “4/10.″ (LOL.)

F: “It was better than tri.. I guess a 7/10 too.”

Sequel?

I think it’s definitely a possibility. I feel like the very last scene of the movie was slapped on just to be like, “Well, if we don’t do a sequel, you know that Taichi and Yamato are definitely going to reunite with their partners eventually for the 02 epilogue to happen.” The scene is of Taichi and Yamato saying something along the lines of meeting Agumon and Gabumon again one day.

And while it’s an uplifting ending, I actually think the movie would’ve ended better with the scene before that -- with the digimon disappearing and Taichi and Yamato crying. It would’ve made a bigger emotional impact and raised the movie up just a notch higher to end on such a ballsy note. But, of course, it would’ve meant a sequel definitely had to happen. So the actual final scene was added on so that a sequel doesn’t need to be made -- but that it leads to the 02 epilogue “off-camera”, in case they really don’t do a sequel.

I think there’s a 50/50 chance of a sequel. The movie actually does close the Adventure story pretty well -- it has all the ingredients to lead to the 02 epilogue without actually taking you there. But it also keeps the possibility of a sequel open, where they can show you exactly how Taichi and Yamato reunite with their digimon.

And, honestly, the only “barrier” I see to a sequel happening is that the reboot is airing next month -- and it’ll be confusing for the next generation of kids to follow one continuity, and then have a movie released with characters they recognise, but in an entirely different continuity. Unless, of course, the sequel comes out in another two years and the reboot has finished after one season (though there’s always a possibility it goes on beyond one season).

S: “Yes, I think there’ll be a sequel.”

F: “It seemed quite final. But obviously if the 02 epilogue is accurate that can’t be the end. Unless Matt finds Gabumon again on the moon I guess. “Oh hey yeah we don’t really disappear, we just go to space!” Yeah, it could go either way. Maybe they are saving Sora’s big part for the sequel!” (XD)

And that’s a wrap! I’ll probably read the novelisation of the movie eventually . . . and it’ll probably be like 95% the same, lol.

[hellzyeahwebwielingessays]

The Not-So-Amazing Mary Jane Part 26: AMJ #2.2

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It’s a little pointless giving you context for this post. We are picking up where we left off last time so simply read the prior instalment.

On the next page we get into yet more problems. MJ states to ‘Cage’ (whom she refers to as ‘Quentin’) that the potential investors see them as a major risk.  She comments that it’s better for them to find the right  investor who believes in the project, as opposed to what ‘Cage’ did before. Namely, lying about the project in order to attain funding.

MJ is then taken aback when Beck proceeds to drop the Cage McKnight façade and reveal himself as Mysterio on the street. As Mysterio he unleashes some of his trademark smoke upon which he projects huge images of MJ and Spidey villains (presumably from the film) on the attack. This sends people scattering in fear believing the villains are on a rampage. People abandon their cars, run in the streets and on the roads, car horns honk away.

Mysterio rants that he couldn’t stand selling his film to ‘philistines’. However, he hoped that they would understand/appreciate it once they saw it. Once they saw what they’d accomplished, the success it’d be, the awards it’d win, etc.

MJ approaches a sad looking Beck and tries to empathise with him. Specifically she deduces that Beck (at least on some level) hoped that in seeing his life on screen that they’d forgive him. This acknowledgement prompts Beck to reveal his real face.

These pages are a double-edged sword.

For starters, they contradict issue #1. There Beck’s given reasons for making the movie had nothing to do with earning forgiveness. He wanted to do right by a woman he felt he wronged, and to make something good for the world at large.

However, they once again demonstrates MJ’s people skills and their ability to reign Beck in. She’s talked him around to obtaining money less dishonestly than before (but still not actually honestly). She’s able to make him halt his tantrum and avoid scaring or harming people. And she’s established more trust between them, which in theory will make keeping him in check easier.

It also is wonderfully on point characterization for Beck himself. It displays a vulnerability and sadness within him. It plays him as what he’s always been, an artist craving attention and to be understood. The duality of this is played well in the scene. His words play him up as sad and sympathetic (from a certain point of view). But his actions make him less sympathetic, much like a child he’s throwing a tantrum because he can’t appropriately deal with his feelings and wants attention.

It’s genuinely magnificent Mysterio writing, a beautiful microcosm of his character.

So again, Williams proves she can deliver great characterization. But she’s also once more doing it within a crappy context.

The whole scene is confusing and incredibly damning MJ’s character and motivations.

In addition to pretending to be McKnight, Beck also  pitched a different movie from the one he was actually making..

This is baffling. Neither Nick Spencer’s issues setting up this mini-series and AMJ #1 absolutely didn’t put forward that idea. Those issues made it clear that this was always a Mysterio biopic and was always going to be sympathetic towards him. The only contradiction to that idea was at the end of AMJ #1 when MJ spoke to Peter (see part 6).

Is Williams implying that the later is what Beck also pitched to the investors? It’s really not clear. None of this is clear in fact.

Are we to presume Beck is now pitching the movie as he actually intends to make it?

If so why not just lie again?

Maybe it’s because MJ is encouraging him to be honest but she  might’ve been lying about it to Peter last issue. And even if she wasn’t, she was complicit in the deceit of the original investors. It wasn’t as though she was telling them what the actual movie was like.

If MJ was encouraging Beck to be more honest about the movie, isn’t that aggressively hypocritical considering she’s not encouraging him to stop using Cage McKnight’s identity!

It’s all a big mess!

Playing Devil’s Advocate, let’s say the intention was something more simple. Maybe the lies Williams was referring to was simply about Beck pretending to be McKnight. But that doesn’t quite make sense. Even if the movie was got more funding that deception would remain the same.

No matter what interpretation you pick it doesn’t add up. And either way, it further proves MJ is complicit in Beck’s crimes and is being a royal hypocrite. She’s even trying to help him commit more of the same crimes, just to a lesser degree  than he had before.

On top of the damage already wrought to McKnight’s reputation, he’s now someone who’s actively sold studios on one movie and delivered another one. An extremely controversial and difficult to sell one at that. Imagine if a director promised investors ‘The Dark Knight’ but delivered 2019’s ‘Joker’ instead. They’d lose their goddam minds!

And for this, this extremely risky artistic vision by a terrible person, Mary Jane is risking the lives and livelihoods of herself and other civilians.*

Unless they’ve explicitly consented to it, no film is worth someone being seriously injured.

More importantly the scene should be a deal breaker for Mary Jane’s trust of Beck.

So far he’s assaulted one of his staff. He’s flipped over a table. He’s been arguably verbally abusive to someone. And now caused a serious public disturbance.

He’s just terrorised people right in front of her for no reason other than he was sad and angry.

He’s potentially caused people to be injured as they run away.

He’s potentially caused vulnerable people to have anxiety, panic or even heart attacks.**

He’s potentially caused people to abandon their vehicles or other property. This leaves them vulnerable to any carjacker, any one who might run into a building and steal from it.

And all because he having a tantrum.

Does this convince Mary Jane that Beck is too dangerous to be left unchecked? That there is no reason to believe he couldn’t have another, maybe even worse, tantrum later?

Does it convince her that at best she can hope to minimize any harm he might cause? That she should contact the authorities to hopefully mitigate or at least further  minimize any more damage he might cause?

No.

It causes her to connect with him even more.

What the fuck is this characterization?

To make matters worse Beck’s dialogue clearly reveals how the project wasn’t altruistic. It’s a total vanity project. He’s doing this in the hopes that his movie will be so award winning that people will forgive him for his crimes. Call me nuts but wouldn’t apologising to/ helping his victims or their loved ones be a more useful or sincere effort to attain forgiveness?

Wouldn’t MJ feel that way too? She began to forgive herself for her past sins when she helped her sister in ASM #292

And her lover has (at least arguably) spent his life helping others to balance the scales for his indirect  role in his uncle’s death.

Yet here, MJ feels sympathy for a man trying to earn forgiveness by making others see how sympathetic he  is? A man who ha unapologetically victimized people, including herself, her friends and family. A man who is actively victimizing an innocent man right now by wearing his face. A man who is terrifying people right in front of MJ because he’s throwing a tantrum.

Shit like this is why all the good work Williams does ultimately doesn’t matter. This is character assassinating stuff.

On a side note by the way, I like the acknowledgment of Doc Ock’s return. It’s the first time it was acknowledged since the end of Superior Spider-Man volume 2.

Moving on, MJ gently informs Beck that he’s scaring people. He reveals no one can see him (addressing why dropping his guise was no big deal). MJ snorts and prompts him to dial it back a bit. She argues that they’d want to avoid spoilers. Beck agrees and claims that the disturbance will be rationalized as a flash mob once the smoke clears.

MJ confirms that the reason the investors pulled the money was specifically because ‘McKnight’ was delivering a different product to the one pitched. See above for my comments on that mess. As they get into their car MJ also speculates that ‘Cage’s’ abrupt personality change scared them away too.

For the most part this page is just more of the same. We do get a hint though that MJ is knowingly playing Beck, as her comments about ‘spoilers’ can be read as an attempt to slyly protect people.

Nevertheless, it makes matters worse in several ways.

For starters we see a woman practically falling out of her chair in response to Beck’s illusions. Even if she wasn’t physically hurt there is no guarantee there aren’t similar or worse instances of that going on. It’s a tiny concern next to more serious injuries, but it exemplifies how more serious injuries are a very real possibility where Beck is concerned.

But MJ doesn’t seem to care too much. She’s even snorting in the scene implying she finds something funny.

Weirdly Williams’ dialogue tries to addresses why outside observers of the incident wouldn’t get suspicious. This is stupid because what about the eye-witnesses? What about security cameras?

There is no reason at all the incident would just be hand waved as an ambitious street performance. Even if it were it misses the more essential point that Beck potentially caused physical or mental harm to civilians!

Also, we get explicit acknowledgment that Beck’s disguise is negatively impacting the real McKnight’s reputation. Beck is such a douchebag he doesn’t even consider this possibility.

But that’s nothing next to what happens on the following pages.

MJ shows Beck a news video depicting his assault of the crewmember from issue #1. The title even acknowledges this is abuse. She follows up by mentioning that the real Cage used to have a reputation for being calm and quiet. They arrive at an auto and body and MJ proceeds to give ‘Cage’ a makeover.

Giving him her sunglasses she ‘rebrands’ Cage to be more in line with his ‘new personality’. Rather than a meek cinephile nerd, MJ declares him a Hollywood bad boy. An eccentric genius who runs hot. An auteur who won’t compromise his artistic vision.

Beck gets into the spirit of things causing MJ to giggle smile with delight.

This is yet another double-edged sword situation.

On a conceptual level, MJ and Beck ‘playing’ together through their mutual knowledge/love of acting is an interesting, even organic, idea. Or it would be if MJ had little idea of who Beck was or what he’d done.

Furthermore, MJ using her acting, social and fashion skills in this way is a stroke of genius. She is in a sense creating a façade for Beck, much the same way she formed one for herself for so many years.

It’s exemplary of Williams’ ability to accentuate realistic strengths of a normal person who lacks fantastical abilities. In other words it’s a brilliant way of framing MJ kind of like a super hero without her actually being one.

Stuff like this is a proof of concept for how an ongoing MJ solo-title absolutely could work creatively.

For that Williams should be commended.

But alas, she should be condemned because of that oh so pesky context again.

It was bad enough that MJ was simply allowing Beck to joyride McKnight’s life. It was bad enough that has resulted in him being depicted as abusive in the news, of being emotionally unstable.

But now MJ  is actively  interfering herself.

Does Mary Jane simply doesn’t care much about Cage McKnight’s reputation? Or does she/Leah Williams have some kind of long-game plan to ensure all damage done to Cage’s reputation? If so, then you know a little hint of that  would be nice. You know, just to make sure MJ doesn’t come off as selfish or stupidly out of character.

I mean honestly. Mary Jane has all this sympathy for a goddam murderous criminal, but none for an innocent man’s career and reputation?

Who the FUCK is Mary Jane to play with another person’s identity, their reputation, their career, like this?

The real McKnight hasn’t given her his consent to do that. He doesn’t even know her! 

It is especially damning when we consider MJ’s own acting career. For years she struggled against unfair labels and assumptions born from her looks and modelling career.

Mary Jane isn’t even rebranding McKnight for the greater good. This doesn’t protect innocent people or their property or herself or Peter.

In fact it does the opposite as it makes it easier  for Beck to impersonate McKnight. To those who knew him only by reputation or merely as an acquaintance, MJ has just helped make his abrupt personality change more believable. She’s just made it harder for anyone to become suspicious of McKnight and therefore to bring Beck to justice.

This is immensely illegal to say the least. But at least MJ is having some fun  whilst she uses someone’s identity as a dress up doll.

It also doesn’t really make sense given Beck’s skills as an actor. In ASM v5 #25 Kindred himself accuses Beck of going ‘method’.

I’m not suggesting Beck had to go method for McKnight. But is he really so incompetent as to have not considered that his behaviour would raise suspicions? Would he really have not accounted for those inevitable suspicions? Would it really take someone else  to think of that?

I will remind you, this guy figured out how to fool Daredevil, the guy who has an in-built lie-detector as a super power!

Alright, maybe he didn’t have all that much time to prepare to become McKnight. But there is no indication of that in the story. And even if there was it doesn’t address why he wouldn’t realise his behaviour would arouse suspicion.

Finally, I should also mention that Gomez is on fire on this page. He utterly nails  MJ’s personality.

Anyway, MJ takes Mysterio to their last shot at getting cash for the movie. The investor isn’t all that wealthy but he is a film buff. Once again MJ and ‘McKnight’ are juxtaposed as she is open and social, whilst he’s once again aggressive.

The investor is sceptical because he sees the project as lacking ‘art’. This prompts ‘Cage’ to go into a passionate speech about the nature of art. This convinces the investor who gives them a quarter of what they had before. ‘McKnight’ begins to argue but MJ grips his neck to keep him under control.

Once more MJ’s strengths are on display here.

Once more Gomez’s art makes her shine.

Once more Williams displays some of the greatest Mysterio writing of all time!

And once more this is toxic to MJ’s characterization because she just helped con this man out of his money and possibly endanger both his business and his life.

She can’t be sure Beck’s ‘passion’ won’t somehow turn dangerous (as it did mere pages ago) and be directed at this man. She can’t be sure that the reputation of Cage McKnight wasn’t a factor in this man’s investment. She can’t be sure she can keep Beck under control. Notice how she just used physical contact to reign him in, an escalation from her words and charm.

She can’t be sure of a lot of things, but I guess the risk is worth it because Beck would just be that  sad if he didn’t make his movie.

Later, Noah returns the equipment to the film set whilst MJ and Beck chat about being an indie film. MJ says she feels good about the project. It’s nice that she feels happy about conning an innocent person. It’s nice she feels good about continuing to be complicit in several crimes. It’s nice she’s buddying around with the man who nearly killed her lover less than a few months ago.

They are so chummy in fact that Mary Jane sings ‘McKnight’s praises to Mallorie.

Whilst trying to find Ken (the actor cat as Mysterio), they discover he’s leaving the movie. With less funding he’s breaking contract, but is nice enough to offer ‘McKnight’ a place at a rehab centre. This is yet more proof of how Beck has damaged McKnight’s reputation, now he’s considered to be on drugs.

‘McKnight’ is distraught over losing their lead but MJ suggests he simply play Mysterio.

Do I even need to explain this one?

Mary Jane is actively interfering with McKnight’s reputation and career again! There is no evidence that McKnight was ever an actor. Even if Mysterio pulls it off it will be an expectation the real McKnight might have to deal with later in his career. And that’s if the audience accepts his performance at all.

Once again, she has no right to do any of this with someone else’s identity.

On the next page MJ refers to Cage as a megastar. This again muddies the waters from the last issue as Cage’s indie status shouldn’t make him a megastar of anything.

Mallorie encourages ‘Cage’. She comments that since since he isn’t really Quentin Beck this is hardly a vanity reel. With MJ’s help Beck agrees and thanks MJ for believing in him.

They then hear a crash and scream and discover it’s Vulture’s Savage Six. They’ve attacked the set and crew, prompting Kangaroo  to retaliate. Vulture threatens to kill the actor playing him before spotting McKnight.

Mallorie’s dialogue is rather ambiguous. It’s not clear if she (or anyone other than MJ) are aware that ‘McKnight’ is really Beck. That is certainly not the impression I got. Accepting that interpretation, Williams’ attempt at irony here is too blunt to work and further hurts her narrative.

It further confirms that  the movies is  a vanity project. This would mean that Williams is aware  Beck is actually being selfish, and thus that MJ is aware of that too. So why  is she writing MJ as so sympathetic towards Beck? Why is she pretending a vanity project like this is at all an opportunity for Beck to make amends?

Can Williams honestly not recognize that a criminal (a murderer no less) making a vanity project is not a legitimate means of making amends?

It’s a legitimate question because she’s further deepening MJ’s friendship with a guy who has tried to murder her lover multiple times!

And as for the Savage Six…I actually don’t have much to say about them.

Unless issue #3 makes a big reveal, they don’t seem to know Beck is McKnight. If that is the case, then they’d have attacked regardless so MJ can’t be blamed for that at all.

Really all I have to say is Kangaroo is way out of his league, especially since he’s going head-to-head with Rhino of all people.

With that we’ve completed issue #2 and the results are not good.

Williams continued and further exacerbated the problems she created in the first issue. That leaves me with little confidence that she has a master plan to sow everything up neatly in the future.

*And she was doing that in the hope the studios would accept getting a different movie from the one they asked for.

**You know, people similar to Aunt May!

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[sweet-curried-powder]

Walking the Sleepwalk

A while ago, I got nightmares after listening to a horror podcast. This episode of Supernatural Shenanigans is based off of that event!

Summary: When Chris starts sleepwalking right out of the blue, he decides to seek help before something bad happens.

Characters: Chris Jackson, Charlie Jackson, Drew and Nevin Jovel, Edward Quinton

IBVS belongs to @onebizarrekai

Warnings: swearing, very brief mentions of gore

Word Count: 2,433

Tagging @titanone1337 because they’re awesome! Rock on, dude!

Enjoy the latest installment!

“Woah. This is getting kinda intense, isn’t it?” Chris said in a whisper, listening intently.

“Yeah, but it’s getting interesting!” Charlie grinned. “These stories feel so real! It’s like we’re actually witnessing these firsthand!”

The podcast was interrupted by the shrill ringing of Chris’s phone. The contact name read “Error Quinton” in all capital letters. The monochromatic teen sighed in annoyance and answered the call. “What do you want, Error?”

“Are you busy right now?” Edward demanded over the phone.

“No. But I can’t leave, if that’s what you’re asking,” Chris replied. “It’s past my curfew, my dad is home, and even if those two weren’t true, I promised Charlie that I’d spend some time with him. You interrupted an episode of Eyes Wide Open.”

“Huh?”

“It’s a podcast of people reading horror stories inspired by real events. I found it online while looking for something for Charlie to listen to while I sleep, and now he’s hooked.”

“You’re starting to get pretty Yuri-like, aren’t you?” Edward mumbled.

“What was that?”

“Just come to the stage room tomorrow, okay?” And before Chris could say anything else, the school king hung up.

“Jeez, what’s with that nerd?” Charlie groaned. “Can’t we listen to Eyes Wide Open in peace?”

���Apparently not,” Chris yawned. “I’m gonna go to sleep. It’s getting late anyways.”

“Keep it on for a little bit. I wanna hear what happens next.”

“Alright.” Chris left the podcast on, crawled into bed, listening to the story as he drifted off.

“The rope was tied tightly around my neck, as if it were a noose. I clawed at it desperately, trying to get it off, but with no success. They dragged me along, and even though I had never smelt it before, I knew that the scent that was getting more prominent was the smell of rotten flesh…”

********************

“Chris! Chris, wake up!”

“CHRISTOPHER JACKSON!” Charlie’s scream rang loudly in Chris’s ears.

“Augh!” Chris woke up with a start. He glanced around, noticing that he was now in the bathroom. “Huh? How’d I get in here?”

“You walked in here in your sleep, that’s how!” Charlie said.

“Charlie, I don’t sleepwalk! Don’t be stupid!”

“You literally just did!”

“You’re sure you didn’t do anything?”

“Oh sure! I possessed you and made you walk all the way to the toilet because I thought it would be funny!” Charlie snapped in the most sarcastic tone someone could have.

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Chris mused. “How could I just start sleepwalking right out of the blue like this?”

“Chris, it’s half past midnight,” Charlie pointed out. “You should go back to sleep. We can figure this out later.”

“Fine.”

Chris went back into his room and got back into bed, keeping Eyes Wide Open  on for Charlie as he fell asleep.

******************************

“CHRIS! Wake the heck up already!”

Chris’s eyes shot open, and then they widened when he saw he was standing in his backyard.

“Sleep!” he cried. “If I don’t sleep, I can’t sleepwalk!”

“Chris, that’s a bad idea and you know it,” Charlie pointed out.

“What’s the alternative? Tying myself to the bed?” Chris argued. Then his face lit up. “Actually, I think I know who can help!”

*****************************

Drew shuffled into the kitchen, still in the process of waking up. “Buenos dias, Nevin,” He yawned, heading over to the coffeemaker and pouring himself a cup of coffee.

“Buenos dias a usted tambien,” Nevin replied. “Grandma made some coffee before she left for work. Don’t go overboard, it isn’t decaf.”

“Good to know.”

There were two sharp knocks at the door. The two of them recognized the person at the door immediately as Chris, thanks to their emotion-sensing powers.

“Come on in, Chris!” Drew said. “Nevin’s making breakfast!”

The Jovel twins heard the front door open and close. Chris shuffled into the kitchen, looking completely exhausted. Without saying a word, he grabbed the coffeepot from Drew’s hand and started chugging coffee straight from it.

“Straight from the coffeepot, huh?” Nevin said. “Let me guess. You had trouble sleeping last night.”

“Sort of,” Chris sighed, setting the pot down onto the counter. “It’s more of a serious issue. I figured that you two could help.”

“A serious issue?” Nevin echoed.

“Yeah. Recently I’ve just started sleepwalking every time I fall asleep,” Chris explained. “You two are like, experts at decoding dreams and stuff, so I thought that you two might be able to help me out.”

“Sleepwalking, huh?” Nevin repeated. “Have you walked in your sleep before?”

“No, never! It just started last night!”

“Well, if this just started recently, it would be in our best interest to solve the problem now, so it doesn’t become a regular habit,” Drew advised.

“But how are we going to do that?” Chris asked. “This isn’t something you can fix with supernatural powers, after all.”

“Oh, that’s easy!” Nevin said. “Me and Drew will sleep over at your house tonight!”

“WHAT?!” Chris shouted.

“Yay! Slumber party!” Drew cheered briefly before sniffing the air. “Uh, do you guys smell that?”

“Oh shit! My French toast!”

*************************

“So, what are you guys going to do in the meantime?” Chris yawned, flopping onto his bed. He had been trying to keep himself awake all day, and he was completely exhausted. School was cancelled for the next day, so Mr. Jackson didn’t question anything when Chris asked if the Jovel twins could sleep over. “I feel kind of uncomfortable with you two just staring at me while I sleep.”

“I don’t know about Nevin, but I’m gonna play Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep!” Drew grinned, holding up his PSP.

“Again?” Nevin raised an eyebrow. “Drew, you’ve played that game so many times, I’m pretty sure the dialogue is practically burned into your brain by now.”

“Kingdom Hearts is a good franchise!” Drew argued.

“If you insist,” Nevin shrugged. “I’m just going to get some reading done.”

“Alright. I’m gonna go to sleep.” Chris reached underneath his bed and pulled out a case. He set it on his bedside table and opened it, revealing a large assortment of knives.

“You sleep with your knife collection out in the open?” Drew looked nervous.

“Mostly so Charlie has something to look at while I sleep,” Chris explained. “I put on a podcast for him, too.” He fiddled with his phone for a minute before setting it on the nightstand next to the knives, then got underneath the covers. It didn’t take long for Chris to fall asleep.

“Okay, now that Chris is asleep, all we have to do now is wait,” Drew said. “Hope you brought a really interesting book, Nev, because we might be here for a while.”

***************************

Several hours passed. Chris remained asleep in his bed, but Drew and Nevin still stayed awake, looking up every few minutes to watch Chris. Finally, sometime around midnight, Chris turned in his bed and fell onto the floor with a thud.

Drew and Nevin looked up from their activities. Chris got up and left the room, mumbling incoherently.

“After him!” Nevin shouted. The Jovel twins scrambled to their feet and rushed out into the hallway just in time to hear the front door close. “Oh God, did Chris leave the house?!”

“We gotta stop him before he gets hurt!” Drew cried. “C’mon Nev, hurry up!” He grabbed his brother’s hand and led him downstairs and out of the house. It was rather chilly that night, and the two of them stood there shivering in their PJs as they scanned the area.

“Chris couldn’t have gone far, could he?” Nevin asked, looking around.

“Look! There he is!” Drew pointed to the end of the block. Sure enough, there was Chris, walking to the next street. “Follow him!”

The Jovel twins ran after Chris, but for someone who was still asleep, he was walking at a fast pace. Chris turned at a street corner, shuffling towards Edward’s house.

“Is Chris heading towards Edward’s house?” Drew raised an eyebrow.

“At least he isn’t breaking in,” Nevin said hopefully.

As if right on cue, Chris slammed his body against the door, forcing it open before walking inside.

“...God fucking damn it.”

“This is no time to use the Lord’s name in vain! We gotta get in there!”

“Do we have to? I don’t exactly want to enter Error’s house at twelve in the morning…”

“Yes, we fucking have to!”

***********************

Edward flipped through his notebook, trying to read his notes as fast as he could. He had just woken up from a really strange dream, and he was convinced that it was connected to him and Isaac, since he noticed some...similarities.

“The glitching skeleton...could that one be me?” Edward mused. “It looks like we share the same powers, but what’s up with all of this multiverse stuff? Is there some context that I’m missing, or…”

Edward’s train of thought was interrupted by a loud crash coming from the kitchen, followed by some shouting, then some more crashing.

What was going on down there?

Moving very carefully, Edward crept out of his room and towards his kitchen, preparing his hands in case he had to strangle a potential robber. 

He peered into the room. There were pots and pans scattered all over the floor. Chris, Nevin, and Drew were standing right in the middle of it. Chris was eating peanut butter right out of the jar with his fingers, and Nevin was in the process of trying to pry the jar out of his hands.

“Jesus, he’s got a tight grip,” Nevin groaned.

“What the hell?!” Edward screeched.

The Jovel twins turned to look at the school king. Chris, however, remained unfazed.

“Ah, great,” Nevin facepalmed.

“Sorry, Edward,” Drew apologized. “This isn’t what it looks like, we swear!”

“It is completely what it looks like!” Edward yelled. “Why are you in my house, how did you get in here, and why is Chris eating my peanut butter?!”

“...He screamed at the top of his lungs as the hooded figure sawed away at his delicate flesh…” Chris deadpanned subconsciously before eating some more peanut butter. Everyone stared at him.

“Uh, what in Kai’s name is up with him?” Edward asked, a little shaken.

“He’s sleepwalking,” Nevin explained. “He came to us this morning and told us that he started sleepwalking last night, and we agreed to help him.”

“That’s why we’re here!” Drew added. “We followed him here, and he burst through your door!”

“Sounds like you guys have had quite the night.” Edward shook his head. “Just...tell him to stop eating the peanut butter.”

“You hear him, Chris?!” Drew told Chris. “Drop the peanut butter! Drop it!”

Chris let go of the jar, causing it to clatter onto the floor.

“Sorry for the mess,” Nevin apologizes, taking Chris by the hand. “C’mon, Drew. Let’s get Chris home before he breaks into Isaac’s apartment or something.”

“Oh no you don’t!” Edward picked up the nearly-empty peanut butter jar and threw it away. “I’ll be damned if I let you and Drew drag Chris home alone in the dark! I’m driving you guys home.”

“But-”

“No buts! Let me get my shoes.”

*************************

“We’ve got to wake him up,” Nevin sighed.

“Wake him up?” Drew repeated. “But I thought that it was dangerous to wake up a sleepwalker.”

“Drew, Chris broke into my house and ate half a jar of peanut butter!” Edward groaned. “Who knows what kind of trouble he could get into if we don’t wake him up! He could even get hurt!”

“You’re right,” Drew agreed. “But how do we wake him up?”

Edward looked in the direction of Chris’s closet. “I wonder…” He marched over and opened the closet doors and started looking around.

“Why are you digging through Chris’s closet?” Nevin asked.

“Ah! He still has it!” Edward reached up to the shelf and grabbed an airhorn. The Jovel twins exchanged a look, knowing where their friend was going with this, and stuck their fingers in their ears.

“Rise and shine, you peanut butter eating son of a bitch!” Edward yelled, and pushed the button. Drew and Nevin could still hear the loud noise, despite their ears being plugged.

“AH! Nani?!” Chris woke up immediately, eyes darting all around the room until they settled on Edward, Drew, and Nevin. “Edward? What are you doing here?”

“I had to drive all of you home after you broke into my house, made a mess of my kitchen, and ate all of my peanut butter!” Edward sighed, tossing the airhorn aside. “That was for Geno’s lunch, man!”

“I broke into Edward’s house?!” Chris shrieked. “Oh dear Kai, this is getting out of hand! At this rate, I’ll never be able to get a good night’s rest again!”

“You started muttering something in your sleep, too. It sounded like something out of a horror novel or some shit.”

“Wait a minute...Chris, can I see your phone?” Drew asked. Chris nodded, and handed Drew his cell phone. The podcast was paused, so Drew pressed play and turned up the volume.

“Before he could say anything, Andy hit the nail with the hammer as hard as he could. I screamed at the top of my lungs as the dirty metal tore through the flesh of my hand and pierced the bone. This man seemed to be oblivious to the tears running down my face-”

“Oh my God!” Drew cried, pausing the podcast. Nevin looked horrified. “What the hell?”

“Hold on! Chris, was that the horror podcast you told me about?” Edward asked.

“Yeah, it is,” Chris nodded. “According to their website, the podcast is known for their graphic content.”

“No wonder you’ve been sleepwalking!” Nevin exclaimed. “You’ve been listening to this bullshit at night!”

“I dunno...I don’t get that squeamish when it comes to gore.”

“Maybe not for you, but it might’ve been a little too much for your subconscious,” Drew pointed out.

“Dang it. Now I won’t have anything to listen to while Chris sleeps,” Charlie muttered.

“Who said you wouldn’t have anything to listen to?” Chris said. “We just have to find something that isn’t as...graphic.”

“All right!” The ghost cheered.

“I should probably get home. Someone’s got to clean up the kitchen, after all. Don’t worry, Chris, I’m not mad,” Edward chuckles. “See you guys tomorrow.” The school king left the room and headed down the stairs.

“So...now what?” Chris asked.

“Well, we don’t have school tomorrow,” Nevin said slowly. “And we’re already at your house…”

“Slumber party?!” Drew gasped. His twin nodded.

“SLUMBER PARTY!” The three of them cheered.

[dahniwitchoflight]

Candy 18-21

oh, oh no

I’ve heard things about Jane x Gamzee

now I get to experience them, oh boy...

Gamzee gets, strangely serious about stuff for once, huh, who would have thunk it

yeah, It’s clear Jane’s political stuff seem to stem from some kind of fear that one day humanity won’t exist on Earth C for whatever reason

that over time, the population of trolls versus humans will eventually skew so much that there won’t be any adam and eve left to match up with each other

in her mind she really doesn’t hate trolls, cuz its not really about the trolls, not at all, but obviously her actions are equivalent to someone who does hate them and she just doesn’t get that

and like, yeah if you just left them to their own devices, maybe that would happen, but then (and I can’t believe I’m saying this) Gamzee has an extremely good point that they already did that when they plopped all the ectokids down and called it a day for a 1000 years, like, they managed to figure it out on their own just fine

and also

ectobiology will literally never stop being a thing so like, as long as some of the god kids stick around, eventually you can just make more humans it’s no big deal to restart the human gene pool since it will be identical to the first time they started it

there’s no reason to make sure this system runs smoothly the “natural way” it won’t, this situation is unnatural for both species

Jane’s just gotta realize that if she wants humans to keep sticking around, she just has to keep supporting the human population, that’s it, whatever trolls do or don’t do doesn’t matter for that goal

course it doesn’t help to compare trolls to animals when talking about their breeding rate and how it naturally evolved over time unlike the apparently non animal humans Janey

Also Alternian society is def not how troll society naturally is but like how could she know that? And how could any troll near her really explain that? 

aaaand I got so up in taking this seriously I forget who was talking

Jane’s into troll blackrom though that’s interesting and unexpected 

oh wow, Jake was there the whole time

Did they really name Jake and Jane’s baby Tavros??? oh jeesus

Yeah Kinda figured the Jane x Jake thing wasn’t gonna actually be happy

I’m really surprised Jane’s version of happiness apparently involves boinking a weird funny man I mean, she canonically likes clowns and jokes, so at the same time I’m not surprised, I mean, she WAS raised by the condesce, it’s just weird how that influence comes out in her sometimes versus how it doesn’t come out in her

literal Jake nightmare scenario though I think lol

really hammering home how the passions of youth don’t really translate well to happy adult relationships

Oh, so there’s the part where Jade reveals she has Bec biology, considering the fandom reaction you’d think we were gonna get some kind of gross M rated sex scene where she pegs Karkat or something

but all she does is talk about how she’d love a normal family and home life and lament that her circumstances ended up not really allowing that and giving enough hints that we can figure out why that would be

it’s not handled grossly at all, even if the subject matter is odd and it doesn’t come off as some sort of character sabotage

this whole time what we’ve known all Jade was that she was lonely and just wanted a family, not that hard to figure out why, girl’s got the same complex as Joey Claire about her family situation, but she’s more reserved about her feelings since she didn’t get to have a comparison of role models like Joey did with her babysitter and also Jade’s food and shelter needs were somewhat taken care by a planet guardian so the affect was somewhat lessened on the outside, she just didnt get the same chances as Joey to be able to articulate her emotional turmoil about it

aww Jade’s not happy either, well, that’s how it goes when you make relationship decisions based on flimsy passions that are more about fulfilling the needs of the self than about actually wanting good things for a partner

More like Jade’s sort of realized that Karkat and Dave don’t have a genuine romantic interest in her and she’s the only one keeping this ship afloat

oh shit, a dead younger jade, oh damn wait she’s the one from Meat that was trapped in the house juju and then immediately died from space razors

Yeah’s she’s a bloody symbol of meat that’s for sure, theyre making that pretty clear

“Her eyes go wide and she feels the breath go out of her for a moment. She looks directly upward. Where did this body come from?”

Again, if we take that symbolism circle of Breath = Sugar = Drugged up High =  Breath

This little dash of meat falling into wonderland would break the breathy haze for a bit wouldn’t it?

So if this kind of thing can happen to others besides John, there’s hope yet for something of value to come from Candy

“ There’s a peaked skylight at the top of the foyer that splits the morning sun like a prism, spilling multicolored dots across every surface below. Amongst those dots are drips of teen-Jade’s blood. It’s so dark on the spotless tile that it looks nearly black. “

I wish I could draw things, I’d love to draw this exact scene here, it’s pretty and morbid

Yeah, the relationship theme of Candy seems to be that everyone’s jumping into Kismesis plus Matesprite threesomes, that seem to be neither of what anyone actually wants in totality

There’s some realization that their Candy filled atmosphere is actually more a drug or a poison, teen jade can’t be revived, and it’s not because of what happened to her, but more because of the environment she is in now

Ah Roxy, ever the social chameleon people pleaser, not working this time though

Jade’s is easily explained already as she has the social graces of an elephant

It is kinda sad tho to see most of the human characters actually aren’t that good at being cool about troll stuff

“CALLIOPE: pUrple roses traditionally represent love at first sight, however these roses are actUally red roses that we prepared Using a blUe dye.CALLIOPE: the blUe rose is the most elUsive and mysterioUs of all flowers.CALLIOPE: the combination of red and blUe in this context is meant to evoke the dUal natUre of death, in that there is nothing more mysterioUs and impossible to comprehend than the vast void of the afterlife, bUt also there is nothing that makes Us appreciate the life and and love that we already have than the mystery of death.CALLIOPE: while death is terrifying, there is always joy to be foUnd among the sorrow. each time we witness death, we fall in love with the important people in oUr lives all over again.“

Why do I get the feeling Calliope is talking about actual rose here somehow?

Is it because she started off with “here’s the symbolism of Purple Roses”?

a Red Rose dyed Blue

Now if Cascade taught us anything Blue and Red certainly represent a mutual destruction of opposites coming together to create a third new thing in the blaze of the aftermath, but that thing was a Green Sun, not something purple, so why bring Rose into mind for all of this?

We have been seeing the effects of what happens when people in candyland awaken from their drug haze with a smattering of blood, but in that case why not make the symbolism more clear by saying a Blue Candied Rose dyed Red as if with Bloodied Meat?

is it more to mean that the correct path lies NOT in Candy being dyed Red, but in Meat being dyed Raspberry Blue?

I Mean, Candy!Rose certainly seems shaken here, having gotten jolted out of her drugged haze at some point, but unable to See, and she’s actually starting to be concerned about that and Meat!Rose is kind of out of commission at this point, So I guess to get things back on track, Candy!Rose would have to go back to the Meat somehow, or might be the influence needed to snap Meat Rose out of her daze

Though I don’t like how this is taking place in the context of a funeral, specifically bringing to mind how Dirk did the same thing using the vessel of Death, I hope Candy Rose doesn’t try to just, off herself

with Dirk taking control of Rose’s ultimate self in Meat, Candy!Rose might be the only true Rose left to take heroic action

Aww, Callie is still head over heels for Roxy, I’m really surprised with this theme of threesomes that nothing ever came of a John x Roxy x Callie, but then again all the threesomes so far have been painted Black and Red, and unless John or Roxy was to form a Kismesis with Callie, I don’t see it happening at all

OH SHIT SPEAKING OF RED AND BLUE

Damn, Sollux and Aradia are here

“KARKAT: MAYBE FUCKING NEPETA IS ABOUT TO POUNCE FROM BEHIND THAT GROTESQUE STATUE OF THE HUMAN SUFFERER T-POSING OVER THERE.”

Karkat don’t tease me about Nepeta but also again WHY is actual Jesus here.

Is Roxy a christian in this timeline? Was she legit just praying to actual Human Jesus? That’s so, weird, especially for Roxy to do, what the fuck in Roxy’s upbringing on an apocalypse earth would make her want to worship Jesus?

Oh wait, that’s obviously what she thinks that every other human sincerely does, since she only had human media to go off of, and like, technically no human has ever said they DONT worship christian gods to her.

“GAMZEE: wHeN tHe DoOr Of ThAt FrIdGe pOpPeD oPeN iT wAs LikE i Be AlL sEeIn ThE lIgHt AnD sHiT.

SOLLUX: well yeah

SOLLUX: that’s what happens when s0me0ne 0pens a d00r t0 a t0tally dark encl0sure.“

Gamzee has had a weirdly meta understanding of what’s going on so far, for some reason, I can’t fathom what could be the Lighty influence that he’s gotten

unless...

Dirk really IS starting to subsume Ultimate Rose, and that’s bleeding over to every Ultimate self connected to Dirk

the more Gamzee knows meta shit and says oddly correct things, the more we know Dirk is “winning” over Rose

Oh, that’s why Gamzee is really here isn’t he? I mean, storywise? He’s a Dirk thermometer/gauge/thing, he’s our way of measuring how far Dirk’s influences are going in Meat

“ARADIA: its so nice that you believe all that gamzee

ARADIA: i think i can honestly say

ARADIA: im reasonably happy for you?“

lol

“blue smoke”

You don’t really tend to describe Smoke as being Blue right? At least, I don’t think that’s usual

But if we’re straight up associating Candy with Blue  to complement Meat with Red now, it’s just making the whole Sugar = Breath thing that much stronger

*EDIT* DUH OF COURSE OF CANDY’S COLOR IS BLUE

BLUE GUSHERS. OBVIOUSLY. *end edit*

and I mean, what is Breath but a weird bluey smoke?

Roxy just wants to be happy with all her friends, that’s all

It is a good shake at trying to explain the nature of infinite possibility, that in reality, there isn’t really more weight put into one possibility over others, that’s how it works in real life anyway

unfortunately a storyline of canon is going to favor some version of events over others, and people make choices because they have preferences for that choice over other choices, something that seems kind of lost on Candy!Roxy who seems to just be okay with going along with anything because everything has an equal chance for having happytimes in this place

Roxy may be starting to lose her sense of self as well, and with her knowledge on things and how’s she’s been described as immutable so far, I wouldn’t be surprised at her having easily and subtly slipped into Ultimate Self hood herself and just being really okay with the idea that there is no one true Roxy, that she is just one piece of many, and not like, needing to delve into that further, not needing to connect with all her alternate selves, happy just being singular but at the same time completely malleable

Oh! Baby time.

Oh fuck, Al!Calliope in Jade time.

Why is Callie so afraid of Alt!Callie? That didn’t come across in their meetings in Homestuck as much, so why is that different here?

Is it because of Jade’s earlier comment of “there can only be one instance of a person here” and Callie doesn’t think she can win against Alltie?

Also, all these instances of Alltie appearing in Jade’s body is making me worried Alltie is doing something to both of their Ultimate Selves, like she’s subsuming Jade somehow like Dirk is subsuming Rose

I mean, they are fighting one another, so if Dirk’s doing something she has to keep pace right? In her mind, it’s probably totally justified

this is getting long enough for this post though, off we go again but I’m still reading

[omgnsfwisnsfw-blog]

NSFW #12: Oil and Water

On paper, Hardcore Revolution had been a success. NSFW had walked in as Tag Team champions and even after the challengers fought with everything they had, NSFW had walked out as Tag Team champions. Mike and Bishop shared stoic, defiant expressions as they backed up the entrance ramp - making a hasty exit from the public eye. They retreated to the recesses of the Rupp Arena, witnessed wordlessly the chaos of the following match, dressed into their street clothes, and departed. Ace Heart and an accompanying cameraman caught them for a website exclusive before their departure midshow. Church had just slung both of their bags into Alundra’s trunk as Mike sat in the driver’s seat with the powerful engine idling. The experienced interviewer tried his luck - hoping that months of radio silence between them had mended previously bad exchanges. “NSFW.” Church closed the trunk and looked up blankly at him - then strode over to the passenger’s side. “A word about your successful title defense.” He opened the door. “What’s next?” The big man dipped down under the frame of the door as he stepped into the car. He slammed the car door shut emphatically. Ace moved to the driver’s side and tapped on the glass. “Lots of speculation on your change of behavior as of late. Any comment?” The window came down. Not a lot. Just a little bit. Ace was met with an emerald death glare that he was probably incredibly familiar with by now. “It’d be obvious to anybody who didn’t eat fucking paint chips as a child. If I ran you over right now, you’d probably be pretty goddamn leery around cars for a while after, wouldn’t you? … Nevermind, fucking metaphorical shit is probably lost on you. As for tonight? We told them. We told them not to goof off. We told them to take us seriously and they didn’t fucking do it. Excuse us for being a tad insulted.” John interjected. “Not to say that our opponents didn’t put on a valiant effort. I commend them. And maybe...” He paused. “This is an ugly business.” His gaze was direct at this man. A fellow employee who he could never get on the same page with despite being amicable with most everyone else. “And maybe beyond all of this...” Another pause. “Mike. Let’s just go.” “Before you go. There are some that say that you two have changed for the worse since winning those titles. Anything to say to that?” Mike’s return glare somehow grew icier, harsher. Her voice sounded not only annoyed, but exhausted. “Heart. I don’t know if you’ve been watching the fucking news, but there’s more important things going on than continuing to lose fucking brain cells talking to you. Church’s right. We’re going home.” The window was rolled back up, and Ace Heart gave a startled jump backwards as Alundra sped off without any further warning. Their community had been grievously wounded that weekend. That with the rampant speculation about the two’s temperament had waned interest in the business and everything that encompassed it. They drove back home and that Tuesday morning - they stood with their neighbors in a vigil to mourn the losses of eleven innocent souls. But after that, there was Japan. Sixteen hours - cross country and then across the Pacific ocean. International travel had not been uncommon for them but with what was slated for them in Tokyo the following Monday, there was a trepidation for just what they were walking into. They would be visiting the island country for two weeks and there was plenty to do, and Mike had amassed quite a list of extracurriculars- cute and sugary and fun things, but also, and perhaps a little out of character for them, quiet and spiritual sorts of things as well. To that end, they decided when looking over places to stay to choose a beautiful ryokan, or hot spring inn, about an hour and a half outside of the city of Tokyo proper. The ryokan was just as stunning as advertised- their room was a very appealing blend of modern and traditional Japanese decorating, and there was a private balcony with a table, two chairs, and their own private onsen- a traditional open air hot spring bath that steamed invitingly in the cool evening air. Beyond the balcony was a view of Mt. Fuji that they both found absolutely breathtaking. Their trusty camera clicked on to the sight of two of them standing out on that balcony, leaning with their backs against the wooden railing, the awe-inspiring mountain clearly visible behind them. They appeared well rested, having slept off any jet lag, and perhaps a bit more at ease than in past weeks. Their title belts rested comfortably in their rightful places over their shoulders. “Context.” John stepped aside - allowing the camera to take in more of the long dormant volcano. “In World War II, this mountain was used as a symbol to evoke nationalism for the Japanese war effort. Meanwhile, the United States used the very same mountain to demoralize those very same soldiers via propaganda. The mountain never changed. It has always stood just behind us. A symbol of this country’s spiritualism. Mike and I. We are that mountain. People will use and twist who we are into whatever they wish. Always ignoring the context. Never asking why. Forgetting that we've never changed.” “Some of the old folklore around here even paints the mountain as a god. Are we gods? Nah. Not far’s I know anyway. We ain’t gods or devils or any other extreme fuckin’ stereotype. What we are is something way more… nuanced?” She glanced up at her partner, who gave her a smile and a nod. Mike held back the urge to give herself a congratulatory small fistpump. “Nuanced. Or in another word, human. I said what feels like a billion fuckin’ years ago, we don’t fit into anybody’s boxes. So if people think we should be acting one way, and we act another, is the problem ours? Or theirs?” John shrugged. “Doesn’t matter to us. Let’s pick up an old thread. We successfully defended our tag team championships against two people that we do consider to be our friends. However. We’ve considered a lot of people to be our friends lately. Including one of our upcoming opponents. Mike and I spoke a lot about it. I think there are some misunderstandings. And maybe we read into things that just weren’t there. But we saw what we saw. And even with that, we fought with honor. And so did they. One day, those two will come back and be ready for another try and maybe they’ll think back to all of this as a learning experience.” “I hope so. They could really be something awesome if they just took some shit seriously. But that was Monday. And now we get to fight a great foe and a rotten fucking friend. Now, we’re not gonna spend a lot of time crying over the obvious. Everybody who wasn’t hiding under a goddamn rock knows what Sanders did. Shouldn't take a Psych major to guess how we feel about it. As for Garcia, this isn’t the first time we’ve gone around the rosey with him.” Mike leaned forward, one brow raising in what could almost be some minute degree of concern. “Hey Cherrypie, you sure you wanna trust this guy? I’d advise against it if I were you, because shit, even you are a better fucking caliber of person than he is. I mean he’s flopping in the raw sewage with the likes of the blonde walking fungus, you sure you want that splattered all over your nice fucking suit? You’ll never get the stench out.” “Why bother?” He looked at Mike and shook his head. “Why bother to rationalize with someone who has closed their eyes to the world? Incapable of grasping any sense of reality. These are the sort of people that Dominic Sanders surrounds himself with. Because except for that shining accomplishment in New York, Dominic’s time here has been wrought with …” John steadied his hand in front of him and tipped it back and forth as if it balanced on a fulcrum. “Inconsistencies. For every accomplishment, there were two pitfalls. For every defining victory over long time rivals or championship boons, there were stunning defeats. Falling to Griffin Hawkins shouldn’t have been the catalyst to orchestrate some charade to manipulate his way into his greatest opportunity. And instead of embracing that chance as a way to finally shine, he shows his true face. Callous. Apathetic towards the people who have supported him through his farce. Surrounding himself with like individuals. However - Dominic should ask himself what it means when he and five other people can’t defeat one, albeit very strong, man.” Mike tisked a bit. “Six guys against one biker. Now, I’ve seen some weird shit circling around Happy lately, and I have to come to the conclusion that either Happy is a magical biker- which would be DC Comics level of badass- or your little makeshift militia really fucking sucks. Or maybe it’s a little from column A and a lot from column B. I mean granted one of those guys was Jeff Noon, but still. Come on. If you were trying to make a meaningful impact it went over like a wet fart.” John raised an eyebrow at that statement but continued nonetheless. “But if you really think about it - it makes complete sense. Dominic Sanders surrounds himself with people that share his ideology. The Limit. A tag team that professes that they do not care about winning. Skirting around the fact that their only victories come from cheapshots against opponents who win less than they do. A team that since trying to use NSFW as a statement - has been violently mediocre until they decided to go to the well once more. Didn’t work the first time - so why try again?” Rhetorical. “Draco Lazarus - a wrestling prodigy so consumed with himself that his proclamations of greatness would be funny if he wasn’t dead serious. Used to be a leader of his own gang of misfits until even they had enough and moved on. Now he’s a follower. And despite these new alliances, he failed to live up to his namesake once again.” He looked to Mike. “And what about Rob Garcia?” “What to say about sweet Cherrypie that we haven’t already said? I know. He somehow stumbled into the tag team championships while being the worst tag partner in the whole wide world. I mean, he was kind of the low man in the entire ReVenant outfit, and once they all skipped town without him he wasn’t able to keep a consistent tag partner after everyone realized what a spoiled, stupid goober he was.” “To be fair, Morgan Darkwater wasn’t the paragon of virtue that we all thought he was.” “Disappointing. But what do you expect from a fucking… pirate? Mercenary? Eh, I think you call that a privateer. Either way, it don’t matter, cuz he’s fucking gone-zo. Sailed off into the sunset, left Garcia all alone yet again, without any titles, real or imagined, to keep his poor sad self company.” “Dominic has assembled this motley crew with designs of molding this company into his image. And in their first cumulative outing - they fail. Typical. And now he, mere weeks away from what he hopes to be the greatest night of his career, looks to use us as an example of his mettle. With Rob Garcia as his charge. What could go wrong?” “Dumbinic Sanders…” John stifled a chuckle. “Dominic, you mean.” “Not if this is his fuckin’ plan I don’t. This is like one of those movies that opens in a shocking manner and gets you all on edge and then just drizzles a promising plot down its own leg like baby diarrhea. Still… even though he’s proven really fucking incompetent as a squad leader and is coming at us with a dude who not only has never pinned us but has all the mental sharpness of cream cheese left out on the counter overnight, we’re not going to make the mistake of underestimating you two. After all, one of you is a Rumble winner and the other is actually really decent if and when he gets a fire under his rich-boy ass.” John affirmed that with a slight nod. “But you two are facing the standard bearer of this company’s tag team division. And that doesn’t mean we are infallible. It means that we faced adversity head on and learned from our shortcomings. After NSFW was defeated by two world class competitors representing the Trinity, what did we do? We came back and captured a victory against the tag team champions at the time. Putting the world on notice. And by the way, where is the Trinity now to forsake our claim?” Mike gave a very exaggerated sorrowful look, wiping away an imaginary tear. “Looks like poor Xavier’s become a doorstop baby.” “And when Mucho Grande went through us to claim a shot at these titles, what did we do? We fought through every team we could until we rectified that wrong. And where is Mucho Grande to dispute our credibility?” The redhead stood up ramrod straight, crossing her arms across her chest like a coffin-bound corpse. “Mucho Muerte.” “That’s right. Despite all of that grandstanding, when push came to shove, they didn’t have the fortitude to backup all of that machismo. NSFW is the constant and Dominic Sanders and Rob Garcia are oil and water. Their only commonality is that they neither of them can get it done as a tag team. Rob Garcia’s last venture went belly up after never winning a match. Dominic Sanders idea of partnership is throwing a fit and attacking Kendrick Kross. After losing to Rob Garcia ironically.” “...what a weiner. What did we ever see in that guy?” John stared at Mike blankly. The cog wheels were turning to find one, single, solitary reason. “Gil.” Mike grinned fondly in spite of herself. “Yeah, yeah you’re probably right.” “But it was always there. Just under the surface. That charming smile a mask concealing his sinister motives. My first exposure to Dominic Sanders was him slamming a steel chair into my back repeatedly. Much like our meeting with Rob Garcia. So understand that Mike and I have not forgotten that.” “Everything you’ve done is gonna boomerang right back in your stupid smug face. You’ve hurt a lot of people in a lot of different ways, Dom. The bill’s coming due and it’s payable in blood, bruises, and busted teeth. Now, we aren’t stupid. We know this won’t be a fair fight- the moment things start getting hairy, you’re gonna call in the gilded turd and your rabid animals. And maybe Jeff Noon for some reason. Maybe we’ll have backup if that happens. Maybe…” Mike let a puff of a sigh out. “...maybe we won’t, and if we don’t, I guess that’s alright.” “We’ll deal with what comes. Together. They’ll bring ugliness and hatred. They’ll try to tear us down and Mike? They’ll fail. Afterwards, Rob Garcia can go back to his clueless world of luxury. Dominic Sanders after the realization that he isn’t as good as he thinks he is can go lapse back into his grizzly misogyny - demeaning a woman who has achieved more than he could ever hope to do. Tired tropes. Little girl. Whore.” His eyes narrowed. And for the only time in this video, he addressed Sanders directly. “I only see one of those. You. A man who has debased himself in utter desperation. Relevance fleeting, you turned to cruelty and malice to get what you want. And on that night. That very special night, you’ll fall short. Re-evaluate your expectations. Monday will be a preview of that very outcome.” “You’re not gonna win, cuz we ain’t like the others. We ain’t going away. No Skipping, Faltering, or Washing out. I hope you realize the fucking hornet’s nest you just kicked. Till Monday. Sayonara, chumps.” They both gave a brief wave. Stepping forward, Mike turned the camera off.

[enderwalking]

yes but would it ease you to know i like it in the 'ohhh they are so fucked up!' sense rather than in an 'omg true love!!' sense and i was also being just a tad facetious when i sent that ask lmao

THIS DOES EASE MY MIND TBH if only bc i didn't want to be like "oh god i hope i'm not going to completely shoot down this person's funny comment and ruin someone's day bc i have too many opinions about final fantasy" LMAO

well lucky you, you get the dissertation either way. My Thoughts On The Bullshit below:

i will preface this by saying that i have held ff7 close to my heart for quite literally over half my life. i first played the game in 2007 ok. i was a kid at the time, and yeah back then i did gensrs ship sefikura fully romantically. mostly bc cloud was my favorite character and i harbored comphet attraction to sephiroth. thank god i'm a lesbian these days (i say as if i do not have far more questionable tastes in fictional men)

ANYWAY the point is we are constantly growing and changing as people, it is 15 years down the line and i have become far older and wiser than i once was, also i have had time to firmly cement my opinions and headcanons for these characters and i literally have the whole goddamn narrative of cloud strife's shitty life laid out to a T in my brain. the following is going to reference all parts of ff7 canon, from the original game to the remake, so uhhh. i know a fair number of people have only played the remake these days, so if you're one of those people, spoilers i guess? man, idk

so in the context of like. crisis core and before. age gap/power dynamic reasons are literally the LEAST of sefikura's problems overall but they are like. relevant, i guess. whatever. but the thing is, cloud strife is gay, this man does Not experience attraction to women, i will fight anyone on this point. and we know he hero-worshipped sephiroth when he was a shitty 14-year-old. it does not take much to extrapolate that he saw the news clippings of this Great War Hero and it awakened some things. typical celebrity crush behavior.

anyway, then cloud joins shinra and meets zack and then uhhhh Things Happen. a guy burns down your home and slaughters your only remaining family before your eyes and stabs you and you manage to throw him into a reactor core but you are then subjected to five years of imprisonment and human experimentation that leaves you in a catatonic state from which you only manage to emerge to witness the brutal execution of your dearest friend and it tends to change some things! :)

and basically like. in the og game cloud is under the impression that he and sephiroth were roughly equals. war buddies. perhaps even friends. and thus the aforementioned burning of the home etc. he considers a personal betrayal. cloud is running after sephiroth being like "WHY DID YOU DESTROY MY HOME, HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME", meanwhile sephiroth is like "who tf is this guy. oh wait this is zack's friend who threw me into the reactor. why is he acting like we know each other. wait, he thinks that HE'S the one who.......ok lol i am gonna troll this fool so fuckin hard (gaslight gatekeep girlbosses cloud into thinking he never existed)"

eventually cloud gets his head on straight and realizes that in his fragile trauma/experimentation-ridden mental state he was projecting a whole different identity for himself using the memory of his dead best friend, and he manages to pull himself together enough to be a normal amount of "wanting to stop sephiroth from destroying the planet", but the whole point is that in the og game, cloud and sephiroth do not actually know each other. at the end of the day, they are just impersonal protagonist vs antagonist.

after the og game, however, going into advent children (a terrible movie overall but great for the bitches who love to think about cloud strife and his mental illnesses, i.e. me), cloud and sephiroth kinda develop this whole Fated Enemy thing. it's implied that cloud's life and memory is the thing that keeps sephiroth's memory alive, and that keeps him coming back. this is the dynamic that is perpetuated by a lot of the two's extra-canon appearances, like in kingdom hearts and also various final fantasy crossover spinoffs. and i mean. like ok, taking it out of the canon context, i'm not gonna deny the homoeroticism of having a fated enemy whose life is literally tied to yours, yknow? whatever. and even in canon, after everything, i don't think cloud really hates sephiroth. while forgiveness for all sephiroth has done is impossible, i think if cloud had to express his honest feelings about sephiroth post-AC, he'd either say, "i pity him," or, "i understand him," and leave it at that. more than anyone else alive in the end, cloud does understand the most about where sephiroth came from, who he was before, and who he could have been had things been different. and, well, there is many a sefikura fic with the premise of sephiroth coming back yet again and being rehabilitated/redeemed through that shared understanding, and under that specific circumstance, i wouldn't say that romantic sefikura is completely abhorrent or implausible. but unfortunately too many of these go the route of "cloud helps sephiroth recover because he was in love with him the whole time :(" which is just wildly incorrect. WHATEVER. anyway.

IN TERMS OF THE REMAKE. they seem to be going with a time loop thing? wherein there is a version of sephiroth with awareness of the original timeline, and there is also cloud who keeps getting flashes of the original timeline or something? and there's a vibe of "let's put our past differences aside and fight the whims of fate together". which, as a standalone concept for a ship? does kinda slay. tbh i have no idea what the current wider fandom perception of sefikura is these days in light of the remake; i have long since abandoned engaging in ff7 fandom and instead just return to rotate it around my brain every once in a while. that said, i do know that, as ever, one of the more common terrible awful bad interpretations leans into the whole "oooh possessive evil yandere sephiroth and cloud his poor hapless puppet" vibe, and i know for a fact that the remake provided plenty of fodder for THAT, so. yeah. very pointedly not interested in seeing any of that.

TL;DR: sefikura is bad, except for the limited contexts in which it can be good, but everyone is wrong about those so it is still bad. also i don't like the ship, except for when i do. but i don't. hope that helps <3