#I just think it'd be very cool... : (

[mattodore]

birthday boy 🎂

[transingthoseformers]

Soundwave at Megatron : dude dude dude look what I found, i—

Shockwave, who is also there: ?

Soundwave: —i uh Data: acquired

Shockwave: I know your secret

Megatron, laughing his ass off: ggssggddh

[sysig]

[anghraine]

Speaking of GW1 and GW2 ... I've had plenty of complaints over the years about how GW2 has chosen to handle and retcon human-centric GW1 lore, the framing of the human gods, etc. That said, I've recently been appreciating that GW2 has retained a particular element of GW1's treatment of humanity and their gods that I've always really liked.

Humans in the GW universe are not really generic everymen, as humans so often are in fantasy settings. Nor are they so wildly varying and unpredictable that there's no sense of humanity having its own distinct flavor like the other playable species do. In many ways, they occupy a vaguely "elvish" position in the world—they've been on this world for a very long time and used to be a major power, or rather, made up many major powers with various warring factions that sometimes found common cause.

But in more recent eras, many of the ancient human civilizations have dwindled and/or suffered various atrocities and/or lost their minds. And culturally, humans tend to have a strong affinity for the mystical and even more for the divinely mystical, which their political power in previous eras was directly tied to. The vast majority of humans in this world are faithful worshippers of a human pantheon of six gods (formerly five).

Not all humans are magical or religious, to be sure, but a lot of them are, to the point that this seems their most distinctive cultural quality. Minor NPCs tend to have background dialogue invoking the gods ("By the Six!"), or referencing one of the gods (often but not only the goddess Dwayna, leader of the Six). The main human NPC of the core game, Logan Thackeray, continually references the gods, as do most of his military fellows.

Most interestingly, though, if you choose to play a human, you will automatically be a devout adherent of the faith of the Six regardless of any other choices you make. In addition, human PCs are blessed by one specific god among the Six whom you choose at character creation.

This mostly has minor flavor effects in practice. A priest of the god you chose permanently hangs out in your home district, and sometimes other priests of your god can perceive some mark of their deity's favor when they look at you.

Howeverrrrr, when I say "their deity," I don't mean that they exclusively worship the god they've dedicated their lives to, or that "your god"—the god whose favor you enjoy as a human PC—is your god in any remotely monotheistic way. Humans faithful to the Six are faithful to all the Six until one of the gods falls to evil. And when that god becomes the villain of the second GW2 expansion, various human NPCs are shown going through a crisis of the soul regardless of whether he was their particular patron or not. Having a more specific personal tie to one of the gods, or being particularly blessed by one of them, or being specifically devoted to a life of service to one of them, does not in any way prevent humans from devotion to the rest of the pantheon.

Mechanically, this means that no matter which deity you choose as your particular patron, your human PC starts the game with the ability to pray to Dwayna, goddess of life and air and healing. When you pray to her, a blue image of Dwayna materializes, heals you, and vanishes. As you level up, your human-based skills will extend to prayers to the other gods.

Praying to Lyssa, goddess of illusion/chaos magic and water and beauty, confounds foes by inflicting random conditions on them and random blessings on you. Praying to Kormir, goddess of spirit, order, and truth, will free you from negative effects like immobilization. The final prayer you can use, iirc, and the most powerful, is the prayer to Balthazar, the god of fire and war who ends up going super evil. If you're playing a fragile class like an elementalist or mesmer, praying to him is actually great, because he blesses you with two fierce hounds made of flame who fight alongside you and soak up damage. (Praying to Balthazar does feel a lot weirder in retrospect, I'll admit.)

In any case, the point is that you can pray to ANY human god and receive a brief visitation from that god, because the entire human pantheon are your gods even if you're only special to one of them. A similar dynamic is at work for NPCs as well. A recurring NPC in the core GW2 story, for instance, is Rhie, a priestess of Grenth, god of cold, darkness, judgment, and death (he's not evil, just goth). Even by priest of Grenth standards, Rhie is greatly favored by him, and as a result is able to perform powerful rituals dealing with the boundaries between life and death. But there's no expectation that this means she should abjure the other gods in any way, and she certainly does not (in fact, she provides a Human Religion 101 rundown about the gods in general in her first appearance in the human storyline).

And it's so common in fantasy, I feel, that polytheistic cultures are conceptualized as giving adherents a wider choice of gods to be the one they actually worship for real, often with the implication that worshipping one god in the pantheon naturally translates into hostility or apathy towards other gods in the same pantheon. And so I do enjoy playing a religiously devout character who has a special patron deity blessing her and who is emphatically polytheistic throughout her entire original storyline.

[imminent-danger-came]

So, this parallel, right.

That parallel and the 4x11 shadowpeach fight as a whole:

Macaque: "No that's YOU! You're the one always running off! Looking for more power, more sources of immortality—you're the one who wouldn't quit while were were ahead! Not the great sage, he's got to drag EVERYONE else into his mess!" Sun Wukong: "You're not in this mess, you're still free! Everything I did was for us!" Macaque: "You did it for yourself! You've become like this, obsessive demon! I told you going against the Jade Emperor was a bad idea, but no, Wukong doesn't listen to anyone! He just does whatever he wants! You put yourself here, not me."

(4x11 A Lifetime of Mistakes)

-

A large part of Wukong's motivation to keep getting more power was the freedom of it—the more power you have the easier it is to do whatever you want. It's easier to ignore everyone else and focus solely on yourself. It's also easier to ensure yourself and your loved one's are protected and have the ability to do what they want.

So, a punishment where the great Monkey King is imprisoned and trapped for hundreds of years? It's effective and tragic and fitting. Wukong wanted to have the freedom to protect the people he cared about, and in trying to reach for the power to do that, he completely had his freedom removed. He went from the mountain, to then the circlet, and then all of a sudden he had morals and was bound to those.

And then I think about his end of s3 choice to go face the Lady Bone Demon alone. Once again Wukong was trying to protect his loved ones (not to mention the whole reason he went after the Samadhi fire to begin with was to have the power, the freedom to stop LBD (which in itself is another case of SWK believing he needed to be stronger for such freedom)), but he also wanted to make sure MK and himself both had agency. He didn't want MK to have to fight LBD, and he didn't want LBD to end the world.

This is exactly the sentiment he tells Macaque in the 4x11 flashback:

Sun Wukong: "It's so we don't have to worry about anything or anyone ever again! Just living a lazy life, sitting in the sun, eatin' fruit, and doing whatever we want!"

But where does it all lead him?

To possession, imprisonment. Once again Wukong no longer had the freedom to do what he wanted (which is to protect the people he cares about). Once again in his attempts to help his loved one's, he only hurt them.

This can be applied to his relationship with Macaque, to MK in s2, hell, even Wukong trying to get the map in the first place left him powerless, which then led to him and the gang being imprisoned in 3x02. It's a familiar pattern, one we see with antagonist and protagonist alike.

MK in s2 trained to become more powerful, which in the end only strengthened LBD and forced him and his friends on the run. Mei in 3x12 protects MK by letting herself get captured and placed into LBD's crystal. Mei in 4x05 goes to protect MK, breaking her sword and leaving her vulnerable to being captured by Kui Mulang ("How am I supposed to protect everyone without my sword?"). DBK reached for more power and then became possessed by LBD, hurting his wife and son. Azure reached for the Jade Emperor's power and bound himself to that role, jeopardizing Peng and Yellowtusk in the process.

It's a cycle of reaching for power, endangering others, and then being imprisoned.

So anyways, here's why MK is going to lose control (his agency) next season and hurt his friends with his own- *get's shot*

[teddybeartoji]

this is super random but would anybody be interested in listening to some estonian songs?? i think i'd be super fun to hear what you guys think of them:333333333

[dirtytransmasc]

I need more selkie theon (and asha. I just think that would be a vibe. fuck the greyjoy sigil being a kraken for a moment and let them be seals) content.

like the opportunity to have theon's coat taken by ned when he's made his ward is right there and it is perfect and beautiful and tragic.

and you could build on that depending on the version of the selkie myth/story you're going off of (I personally love the song of the sea version of selkies for story writing). maybe he can't talk without it, maybe he gets sick, maybe his voice has magical properties of sorts.

I have this one concept in my head that I don't have the time to write, but it goes something along the lines of theon getting sick after years away from his coat and the stark kids have to find his coat and drag his slowly dying ass to the bay of seals (cause y'know bay of seals and theon's a selkie so he'll turn into a seal... I thought it was creative).

also, in a lot of versions of selkies, when they get sick, their hair turns white, which is on brand for theon. they're also pretty, their stories are typically soaked to the bone in tragedy, they're normally held captive/tortured, amongst other things, which are also very on brand for theon.

and maybe you get some selkie to selkie telepathy of sorts, so when theon finally enter the water a seal again, asha books it to come find him, cause its been years since she's been able to feel him (I'm soft for them, I will create the most improbable and ridiculous scenario's to bring them together and for them to have soft sibling moments).

all and all, theon being a selkie is something I need more content of, please and thank you.

[stardestroyer81]

With the recently announced Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope DX, I figured there's no time like the present to bring an old favorite back into the spotlight... hey, Yacht Club Games! How about another character to play through the first campaign as? I have just the girl for the job...

Making her first appearance on this blog since 2020, witness the return of the Fated Acolyte, now sporting a brand-new look! 💜🖤💜🖤💜

[spotaus]

Late Night quick thing (New Age Sillies)

Bad news: That joke post about including Reset + Orchid is definitely not canon. (I legit got sad thinking about Reset being in a universe where Orchid isn't- because their stories are so so intertwined- but Nightmare 100% would NOT risk the whole twins exploding Error's soul thing.)

Good news: This means I COULD include Kane (Reset's older brother who usually dies in timelines where Reset is born) and use it to develope his character a bit more! Also! Perhaps a Blue × Dream kiddo is finally in the stars for me to design?

[i3utterflyeffect]

So, had a thought about stick world—does Dark know about the Cycle when it and Chosen first escape? I, uh, don't think that would go over well when it becomes relevant. Specifically because I know Chosen would attempt to protect it at any cost.

i don't think that they worry too much about it at first; for almost all creatures i imagine the cycle is just some fact of life, and if you don't think about it too hard, it'd really just be iterators bothered by it--

but of course... then it Isn't

and with every cycle dark's rot gets worse, and they say it's fine, they can conquer anything including this stupid rot. but they keep getting worse. and they think it'll be better once they discover they can use spitter spider venom to help anesthetize the rot and the sharper weapons; they make ways to fix it, chosen learns from the scavengers when dark isn't terrorizing the local populous

but it's not just growing, it's contaminating Dark on the inside, too. it comes and goes, but when it's at its worst, Chosen can't stop thinking about it.

What happens when they completely turn to rot? will they keep living? will they die forever? will the rot be all that's left? or will dark be inside, suffering?

they bring up the thought of ascension but dark doesn't want to. and even though chosen thinks about it dark prefers to ignore it, they don't want to think about that inevitable end result

of course, the hunger of the rot doesn't let them sleep soundly sometimes.

especially when they think about turning on chosen. another slugcat could provide easy food.

[allgremlinart]

can I say something controversial.. LOVE the equalist!Asami aus. would absolutely hate it if it was canon

[this-is-a-name-dont-worry]

can't wait for french speaking belgians to arrive and have beef with the french

[sysig]

can you draw edgar and scriabin playing on a park like brothers for the vargastober? ty!

Day 7 - Play stupid games

[seth-burroughs]

Hot take incoming but Makoto is one of the characters where everybody focuses on only one of his crimes, which is arguably actually the most justified out of all his actions, while ignoring pretty much. Everything else.

Like sorry but I don't think turning people into food was That Bad considering homunculi need human meat in order to live, they literally die if they don't eat it - it's either A. no humans get killed, and in turn all of Kanai Ward dies, or B. humans die and get turned into meatbuns, and Kanai Ward gets to exist. You could argue that the defective homunculi weren't really supposed to exist anyway but like, they do now so what. Makoto is also a homunculus, of course he probably sympathizes more with the other homunculi instead of the humans (that put them there in the first place) of course he's gonna choose KW over approx. a million humans.

If that was me in that situation I'll do the same thing fuck them bun filling lmao sorry I'm not saying it would be the best choice but it's one literally most people would choose anyway because like. What can you do, it sucks, moving on.

Substitutes for human flesh are possible to create (thank you ramen guy) but it'd require him to seek help from others which would require him to tell them the truth which fuck no. Like in that regard I believe he should be allowed to kill whoever he wants actually!

What actually makes me go 🤨 about him is everything else he's doing. Or not doing - aside from providing food and rain clouds, aka only a portion the bare necessities, he's doing absolutely nothing for Kanai Ward, especially Dohya District. He lives in the most expensive looking penthouse I ever laid my eyes upon, there is so much he could do with all of his billions, like, I don't know, at least unflood the Dohya District do you remember the Dohya District it appeared once in chapter 3 I believe.

Also your city has a poverty crisis the population's like 10% rich bitch working for ✨Amaterasu✨ 90% i live in a sewer i have like 8 shien. Please stop saying you love KW like every othet sentence and actually do something I'm begging you I'm poking you with a stick right now.

Say what you want about Yomi but he was so real for telling Makoto he's not doing shit, only ever instance in rc where the guy is like.... somewhat correct. I was about to say something else but I stopped myself because I have a healthy amount of Fear.

Apparently Makoto's love for all homunculi doesn't extend to Kurumi though, a teenage girl, after he just dumps her along with Yuma in the restricted area for no reason whatsoever, endangering her severely. He also risked her finding out she was eating human flesh for three years straight, the only reason she didn't go into the freezer was because Yuma was there to tell her there was nothing there. There was no reason for Makoto to drag her along to be the audience to his epic showdown with his DNA donor.

I'm not mad at him for that though, that was so fucking hilarious, the fuck?? What is wrong with him <3333

Since I know somebody is going to say that Yomi existing severely limits what Makoto can actually do, which is fair to some extent, but like... Was Yomi holding a gun to his head and telling him he's gonna execute the hostages if he tries to unflood Dohya? Was he? Yomi controls the peacekeepers, he doesn't control where Amaterasu money gets donated. Yomi (and by extension, the peacekeepers - Yomi is, as I see it, the personification of everything wrong with the Amaterasu Corporation cops peacekeepers anyway) can be blamed for a large portion of everything wrong with Kanai Ward, but not the entirety of it; and Makoto can't be, either. Blaming everything on Yomi is not only just wrong, but also the most boring answer possible.

Speaking of -- Makoto didn't even care about all the abuse of power Yomi was commiting the entire time. According to him, "If all Yomi did was throw his weight around, that would have been fine, but [forgot the exact phrasing, but he says him trying to leak homunculus information was where he had to step in]", so you can't even give him points for being a Yomi hater! Sad. Anyway here's how makoyomi worsties can still win

Do I dislike Makoto? No not really. I don't really care about him as much as other people tend to, but he's fun when you let him be his silly (ominous) self. The atrocities are a part of him and I decided they're funny. Actually wait I changed my mind I love him now.

[linagram]

[ 𝚈𝚊𝚗𝚘 𝙰𝚜𝚊𝚑𝚒'𝚜 𝚃𝟹 𝚅𝙳 ] 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚃𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝙰𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝

THE BOY!!! i wonder if he'll be able to get a full inno combo..

Warnings for Asahi's VD: toxic family dynamics, Asahi also gets to act a little homophobic, but it's played for laughs.

Warnings for Asahi's MV: the aforementioned toxic family dynamics and despite the song's title, there's not any insect/bug motifs, not counting the ending.

(sounds of footsteps)

Hinode: So.. It's time to interrogate your brother, huh?

Hinode: Are you sure you can do this? You can just let me and Eiji-san-

Miki: You don't have to worry about me. I'm fine.

Miki: Why do I even have to worry about anything? I already know I will forgive Marito. 

Miki: .. And you and Eiji-san will forgive him too, right?

Hinode: .. Y-you really love him, haha..

Miki: I've said this before: I can understand Eiji-san's case, but you, Hinode-san..

Miki: You really were okay with punishing your own brother.

Miki: And when he tried to kill himself, the one who saved him was Miyagawa-san and not you.

Miki: You weren't even that worried about him!

Hinode: ...

Miki: I can handle this. I'm still not the best older sister, but at least I actually care about my brother unlike you.

(the door opens)

Asahi: Ah, Miki-nee!

(sounds of Asahi running up to her)

Asahi: I missed you so much! 

Miki:"He's so cute.."

Miki: I'm pretty sure we have talked earlier today though..

Asahi: I don't care. I like you, Miki-nee, so of course I'd want to spend as much time with you as I can.

Hinode: Haha, you really do like her, don't you? I've never seen you act so nice to someone before-

Asahi: .. Miki-nee, do you want me to kill this guy for you?

Miki: Huh?!

Hinode: K-kill?..

Asahi: I don't know, Miki-nee, he's kind of a weirdo.. He looks like the kind of guy who claims he doesn't know anything and then he reveals that he actually knew the whole lore right when we're all about to die.

Asahi: Also he looks gay, honestly.

Miki: ...

Hinode: ...

Hinode: Heh. Miki-san, your br-

Hinode: Uh.. Ahem, I wanted to say that Asahi-san is kinda funny actually.

Asahi: Oh, so you're okay with me calling you a-

Miki: Now, now, how about we start the interrogation?

Asahi: .. Ah. Right. 

Asahi: I forgot that you didn't come here just to.. hang out.

(sound of a screen turning on)

Eiji: Okay, so are you all ready to begin? 

Miki: ".. Why is Eiji-san so.. calm?"

Miki: "He doesn't really talk to me anymore, but he doesn't seem mad about Kei-san's second trial verdict.."

Asahi: Ugh, you're here too..

Eiji: I'm glad to see you again too, Asahi.

Asahi: How can you even see us right now? Aren't all the cameras-

Asahi: !

Miki: ...

Hinode: ...

Asahi: N-never mind-

Eiji: Oh, but I do mind. Asahi, how did you know what happened to the cameras?

Eiji: And to answer your question: I can only see things from the screens in everyone's cells. I can't see anything from the other cameras.

Eiji: "Guess he wasn't able to break into everyone's cells and use the spray paint on the screens too.."

Miki: "So he DID see Yoshioka-san when we were interrogating her."

Asahi: U-uh..

Asahi: H-hey, Miki-nee said to start the interrogation! So stop asking questions that aren't related to my crime!

Asahi: Eiji-nii is such a meanie..

Miki: ...

Miki: "I want to know more about his relationship with Kei-san and possibly Himura-san, but..  Now is not the time."

Miki: Okay, Asahi-san. We know pretty much everything about how your crime went, but there's still one very important thing we have to discuss.

Asahi: .. What is it?

Hinode and Eiji: She's talking about your-

Asahi: I am not going to talk to anyone here except Miki-nee.

Eiji: What? That's just stupid, you have three guards here and you're only going to talk to-

Asahi: Eiji-nii, why don't you go and shove all your bandages in your mouth and choke on them?

Eiji: ...

Miki: .. Why did you kill that woman?

Asahi: ...

Miki: We know how she died, we know about your relationship with her, but why did you kill her?

Miki: You told us that you had to do it to her. I just want to know why.

Asahi: .. I..

Asahi: .. I-It was self-defense.

Eiji: Oh really? You know it can be counted as self-defense only if you were in immediate danger, right?

Eiji: So like.. It can be counted as self-defense only if she tried to attack you or something.

Asahi: .. She didn't attack me, but I'm sure I would've died if I didn't kill her.

Miki: Was she really that dangerous?..

Asahi: .. You know, I don't really believe in God or magic or miracles, or.. anything like that.

Asahi: Like.. Come on. That just sounds dumb.

Asahi: But.. Sometimes I can't help but feel like her not being able to have kids of her own was..

Asahi: .. Maybe her becoming a mother really wasn't meant to happen. And like, for a good reason.

Asahi: She never took me seriously. It's like, she just liked the concept of having children. She didn't actually like having a kid.

Asahi: It's like I was just this cute toy that was supposed to make her go "Awww! Look at you!" and not an actual human being.

Asahi: Yes, she bought me everything I asked for. But when it came to actually spending time with me.. 

Asahi: Seriously, she avoided me like I was the fucking plague.

Asahi: Every time I asked her to go somewhere together, she just went "Oh, sorry, mommy is feeling a little sick".

Hinode: ...

Miki: But.. If she wanted a kid so badly, why couldn't she spend at least some time with you? 

Asahi: .. No idea. Every single time I rebelled against her, every time I showed that I have emotions and I can disagree with her and even hate her, it's like..

Asahi: Her brain just turned off.

Asahi: She just stared at me. And said nothing.

Asahi: It's like she was a spoiled rich girl who said she wanted a pet and when her parents got her one, she just took some pictures with it, played with it a little bit, but when it came to actually taking care of it, she made others do all the work.

Asahi: .. Except in my case, I was alone almost the whole time.

Asahi: Like think about it. She didn't even actually adopt me, she just found me and took me in and made everyone believe it was a kid she adopted because she's so nice.

Eiji: Okay, but.. Why did you think she was going to kill you?

Asahi: I said I'm not going to talk to anyone except Miki-nee-

Eiji: You have already answered my question earlier. Why can't you do it this time too?

Asahi: ...

Hinode: Oh, right, when Eiji-san mentioned the immediate danger part-

Asahi: Fine, fine! You are so annoying..

Asahi: Um.. 

Asahi: .. I got really mad at her and she started saying shit like "Oh, I knew I will never be a good mother"  or "I can't give you what you need".

Asahi: And after that, something.. changed. 

Asahi: It's like she didn't know how to play with her cute little toy anymore.

Asahi: We haven't talked that much after that. She couldn't look me in the eyes.

Asahi: And I think the last straw was me hearing her say to her husband..

Asahi: "You were right. Adopting him was a bad idea".

Miki: ...

Hinode: .. Oh.

Asahi: Haha.. If you were me, what would you think she was going to do to you?

Miki: I-I.. I'd think she didn't actually mean it-

Eiji: I'd think she wants to get rid of me.

Asahi: .. Wow, Eiji-nii, can't believe you actually have a brain in that head of yours.

Miki: Did you think she was going to kill you?!

Asahi: Kind of. She was too weak to attack me, I knew that for sure.

Hinode:.. You thought she was going to kick you out of her house, right?

Asahi: .. Yeah.

Hinode: And for someone like you, with nowhere to go, it would be..

Hinode: Not that different from being killed.

Asahi: .. *nods*

Asahi: .. I was scared.

Miki: E-every child would be, Asahi-san, there's nothing to be ashamed of.

Eiji: Still, your whole plan doesn't make any sense.

Eiji: Like sure, you'd kill her, but what were you going to do after that? I doubt her husband was happy to see her corpse. 

Eiji: And I doubt he wanted to do anything with you after that.

Asahi: .. Eiji-nii.

Asahi: I WAS LITERALLY 11 YEARS OLD WHEN I KILLED HER!

Asahi: I HAD ZERO EXPERIENCE! I HAD NO IDEA WHAT I WAS DOING! I JUST KNEW THAT I HAVE TO STOP HER! IT WAS EITHER ME OR HER!

Eiji: OR YOU COULD HAVE JUST ASKED HER WHAT WAS GOING ON!

Asahi: ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO CALL OUT A CHILD FOR NOT BEING GOOD AT KILLING PEOPLE?!

Eiji: GUESS WHAT, SHE'S DEAD, SO YOU'RE ACTUALLY GOOD AT IT, YOU JUST DIDN'T THINK IT THROUGH!

Asahi: FUCK YOU!

(bell rings, machinery sounds)

Asahi: .. It was him who kicked me out. Her husband.

Asahi: Haha.. He really was not happy about her murder..

Hinode: It sounds like he really loved her, but.. You can't just do something so cruel to a child.

Asahi: .. Are you going to vote me guilty this time? Because it wasn't actually self-defense and it was just me being an idiot?

Miki: I don't know about these two, but..

Miki: Please know that I forgive you, Marito.

Eiji and Hinode: Huh?..

Asahi: .. What did you just call me, Miki-nee?

Miki: O-oh, I-

Miki: .. Whatever. You have to know the truth.

Miki: The third trial is getting closer to its end and we don't have much time, so..

Miki:  Asahi-san. I know you don't remember your past that well.

Miki: You're so young, but you have already lost so many of your memories because they were too scary.

Miki: I know how much you want to see your.. "Real mother" again. 

Miki: But I..  I can't promise you that. I-in fact.. I don't think you're ever going to see her.

Miki: B-but, um.. A-at least you have me.

Miki: Asahi-san, do you remember your family well? You know, the people who you were living with before you met that woman?

Asahi: ...

Miki: You don't have to answer. From what I saw in your second video, I can tell that you do remember them, you just don't want to think about it. And that's okay.

Miki: Just.. Please know that I'm your older sister.

Miki: And the name you had before you met that woman was Andou Marito. 

Asahi: ...

Miki: S-sorry. I wish I could've revealed it in.. a different way and not like this.

Asahi: .. It's fine.

Asahi: I.. I think I actually kinda knew that you're my real family.

Miki: ...

Miki: *sobs*

Eiji: Hey, I know, this scene is supposed to be very touching, but can we extract his video already? We have three more prisoners to interrogate.

Eiji: And all of them cause way too much trouble.

Miki: A-ah, right, right.

Miki: Prisoner 007, Asa-

Asahi: Y-you can call me by my real name. It's fine.

Miki: .. Okay.

Miki: Prisoner 007, Marito, sing your sins!

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[ Asahi Marito's Trial 3 MV: Caterpillar's Cries ]

The video starts with showing us a dark forest. Marito comes out of it and he's not looking good: his hair is messy, his clothes are dirty and he overall looks like he's going to die very soon. He falls on the ground, not having any energy left to walk, and looks up. We see his adoptive mother, Satsuki, and her husband. 

"Hello, who are you? Ah, I see, you're my mother number two

At least that's what you claim to be

But I'm not so sure, I find it hard to believe

My mother would look at me like I was her child and not just a cute new toy"

Satsuki smiles warmly at Marito and holds out her hand to him while her husband turns away. It takes him a moment, but Marito takes her hand.

"But fine, I'll accept your help 

I'll accept your love and affection

Even if I'm not sure if that's what I need

A kid like me doesn't have much of a choice here"

We see Satsuki, her husband and Marito walking into a house that looks really fancy and it really looks like a place where a rich couple would live, but also, their house has a really dark color palette which makes the whole place look intimidating and creepy in some way. Marito looks scared and he walks over to a table. He sees a piece of cake, but just as he's about to take it, someone slaps his hand away and Marito drops the plate on the floor. 

"Hello, who are you? You're not someone I should've become

Does this happen to those who get carried away?

Or does this happen to those who got everything they wanted?

Could it be that you're just like me, except you're completely satisfied?"

The person who slapped his hand away turns out to be Marito himself, but that version of him looks different. This version wears better clothes and simply looks like what you'd expect a rich couple's kid to look like, but his eyes also look.. weird. They look too swirly and colorful. You could say that this version of him is not Andou Marito. It's Yano Asahi.

""Stop, that's enough!" But it will never be enough

Sweet or sour, I don't care, I want everything I could never have

Even if it's rotten, even if it's broken, I just want to have something

Do you understand now? I live like I can die at any moment"

Asahi makes Marito fall on the ground and Marito starts to cry because of how scared he is and because he expects Asahi to hurt him. Suddenly, Asahi stops and looks at Marito. Something about the boy's reaction makes him change his mind and he helps him get up. 

"I don't understand, why do you understand me so well?

It's like you're me, it's like we really are family

Please, please, help me stop feeling so empty

Fill this void, say I'm not alone, say I can have everything, say I can have more"

The boys are walking somewhere now. Marito starts to notice that there's a lot of food, toys and other things lying on the floor as they walk. He starts picking those things up meanwhile Asahi doesn't seem to care about this stuff at all. Marito starts seeing weird ghost-like visions of Satsuki and his other self. They all show Satsuki giving him the exact things that are lying on the floor right now. At first Asahi looks genuinely happy to receive them and thanks her. But as those visions continue to show up, Marito notices that Asahi starts to look more and more disappointed with each new gift, until eventually he rejects one of them, making Satsuki look at him with a confused expression. We don't get to see what this gift looks like exactly and it looks blurry. Marito wonders why this happened and he looks at all the things he picked up. Asahi looks at him and simply shakes his head and sighs. 

"Why would you do this? Are you this ungrateful?

Don't you remember what we had to go through?

Do you really need more? Do I really need more?

Do I need at least something? Or do I need everything?"

Finally, they walk into a room that seems to belong to Asahi. This room has so many toys everywhere that you can't even see the floor. Marito looks at all the toys and his eyes start to sparkle, but then he sees a small table in the middle of the room and three chairs. It looks like Asahi has decided to hold a tea party. 

Now we see Marito, Asahi and a plushie having a tea party together. Marito looks happy, but Asahi looks like he's thinking deeply about something. Marito notices it and takes one of the plushies and makes it kiss Asahi on the cheek and smiles. 

"Why are you so nice? It's like we really are family

Maybe kindness really was what I needed from the start

I just wanted someone to hug me and say that they love me

I was tired from all the gifts that had no love inside"

Asahi blushes and tries to act serious, but it also looks like he's.. sad for some reason. Marito continues to drink his tea..

Until he suddenly drops his cup. It looks like he's in pain. 

""Stop, that's enough!" But it will never be enough

No matter how hard anyone tries, I will never be satisfied

It's time for me to admit that I will never be truly happy

Do you understand now? Maybe death was what I wanted from the start"

Marito falls on the floor while Asahi watches him and when Marito looks at him, he sees that he's.. crying. Asahi walks over to him with that plushie in his hands and he gives it to him. Marito takes the plushie and hugs it. He closes his eyes. 

"It's fine, it's okay, as long as you love me and I love you

Maybe your love will satisfy the hunger I've felt since the day I was born

Or maybe it will do nothing but make the void consume me

Honestly, I just want to be loved, who cares about the consequences?"

He opens his eyes again. They are as weird as Asahi's. He's wearing the exact same clothes as him. Satsuki walks into his room. She's holding the same toy Asahi rejected in one of the visions.

"Please, say that I am a good kid

Say that you will take care of me, say that one day your house will feel like home

Please don't throw me away

Don't punish me for my greed, forgive me again and again and again"

It's a caterpillar plushie.

The video ends. 

[late-night-vocaloid]

(disclaimer there's no hio news this is old stuff)

I was never a huge hio stan specifically but these runner-up designs in particular are so sick

he should've been pink