#I might do something to show his hallucinations in the future

[thatdeadaquarius]

sagau with the language barrier issue except... the creator is sick and tired of trying to ask for things so they do everything themself.

and it gives their followers mass anxiety bc they can't even ask what you're doing... bc they know they won't understand anything...

SUCH A GENIUS NARVI 10/10 GOOD WORK SORRY IM SUPER LATE BUT THIS IS *chefs kiss*

Like, that's literally how I feel like I first played Genshin LMAO

Also this has a cont. Part 2 at the bottom bc tumblr fucking hates me UPDATE I FIXED IT THANK FUCK

Paimon was like "and then we go to Mondstadt- ! NO, not Wolvendom, to Mondstadt! NOT THE THOUSAND WIND TEMPLE WITH ENEMIES OUT OF UR LEAGUE, ENTER MONDSTADT FOR THE FIRST TIME BEFORE U EXPLORE THE REST OF THE MAP!! >:("

SO MANY IDEAS YET SO LITTLE WRITING SKILL GUYS HELP-

Also warning this is ROUGH in terms of spelling and editing and im so sorry abt that! I have my art show today so you're welcome to come back if you want to see it a little more readable tomorrow lmao

Edit Update 4/6/23:

Revised and fixed all the bad spelling and grammar (hopefully) so make sure to give another read if you havent read the cleaned up version lol

I dont have a beta reader so its just me trying my best ok-

Everything was like kinda chaos tbh at first

WOW- MY FIRST 1,000+ NOTES POST??!?! U GUYS, WHAT ARE R YOU DOIN??!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!! IM GLAD U GUYS ENJOYED IT SM!! Also look out for more encoded stuff in the future since i mentioned wanting to continue stuff like this + ARG stuff :) <3

Edit 9/7/23: 2,000+ NOTES?? THANK YOU???

Like u wake up under the Irminsul, and u think ur hallucinating a goddamn gacha game for like a solid 5 minutes, or ur lucid dreaming, 

but once u actually took what felt like hours to process that u might actually be in fucking Genshin Impact-

Nahida came running from, somewhere?? Its kinda just very floaty dreamy in here so, unclear, she’s beaming with a giddy little smile (💘)

It’s… so much more than what her game model could manage.

I mean, you knew that, of course you did, but- to see the tiny goddess smiling in person, her cute chubby arms waving in the air, her cheeks all plump with baby fat from her excited smile, pretty green eyes that sparkle only in the way excited toddlers do-

It was just…wow. 🥺

You can’t help it, her sheer carefree excitement, exactly like a child but you know that she must be really overwhelmed with joy if shes letting herself act like that so blatantly, you feel ur muscles tug gently into a smile, you try to muffle it but ur happiness leaks out anyway

She's panting as she stumbles on short chubby legs to reach you.

After just staring at you with those big green clover eyes for a few seconds, she physically shakes her head to knock herself out of it,

Nahida places her hand over her heart, and bows elegantly, going back to looking at you with a small but bright smile, her voice is kind of quiet, muffled in a soft way, much like her game depiction,

“Hzozn! R'ev yvvm dzrgrmt gl nvvg blf! R wrwm'g gsrmp blf dlfow wvhxvmw fmgro R dzh zg ovzhg z uvd gslfhzmw bvzih low!” *

…Nahida begins to look a little concerned… her eyes get impossibly bigger.

…Oh no.

♧

Nahida had apparently quickly spread the news that you can’t understand them, but luckily it seems like all the characters still know you!

Alhaitham is pretty much a constant by your side, you knew he was vaguely studying linguistics in the akademiya… but that knowledge still didn’t prepare you to be intensely stared at with his diamond pupils for hours. 💀

Then he’d tap your shoulder or something, and you quickly picked up that he wanted you to just try and say something.

Then he would scribble for hours.

Turns out they can understand you about as much as you understand Teyvat language (s? You can’t even tell if there are multiple languages, that’s how unrecognizable this language is, damn)

The more extroverted or friendly people, like Venti, Yoimiya, Kazuha, Jean, Noelle, Amber, Xingqiu, Hu Tao, Zhongli, Ganyu, Barbara, Beidou, Collei, Ayaka, Gorou, Nilou

At least attempt to talk to you, and try very hard to watch what you gesture with your hands or body language

They're pretty much ready to play charades at all times for you lol

Interestingly enough, they only ever understood you when you typed in the chat (with other ppl)

But even then not immediately, 

Sumeru scholars basically had to make a whole new department (regardless of how much you play with others) to decipher your ancient language (to them) like those old clay tablets with cuneiform we’re still translating?

Like that, your words appear in elemental magic heavy places (so like that abyss lang. It’ll appear on walls or structures, so like Andrius’ stone colosseum? in Wolvendom gained some of your chat replies inscribed and glowing a rainbow of colors on the top edges of the walls)

Much like the abyss language you see throughout genshin, most Teyvat scholars (across nations/internationally) agreed your language is the oldest form of language known!

It’s like modern languages having roots in older ones, like English with Latin, greek, or German roots, or Sanskrit and the Prakrit for Hindi language today

…so of course no one really speaks the root languages anymore, because they’re so old, so those ancestors who spoke those languages would have little to no understanding of their modern counterparts…

◇

Occasionally if you turned your mic on for whatever reason there would be a gentle whisper on the winds in Mondstadt of your voice,

or your laugh in the waves washing ashore in Inazuma and Fontaine,

your startled noises or screams from battling bosses mixed with the landslides in the mountains of Liyue

So they know what you sound like, but that doesn’t mean they understood your language :/

Nahida had been hoping that you’re actual physical form being here would help improve the language barrier

But unfortunately, those things remained the same, but at least you were physically here to talk to now and give more content for the scholars to study rather than them having to make do with your snippets of language from chats

…so needless to say, it took you a long time to realize they viewed you as a god of sorts.

You kind of knew something was up when at least two allogenes were by your sides at all times, or eremites would replace them if they really couldn’t stick around

You figured they knew you weren’t nearly as combatant-ready as they were at all times, hell you obviously didn’t have a vision hanging off you somewhere, and you only really had a knife strapped to a belt, courtesy of the Thirty Corps

You are still kind of convinced that the people of Teyvat, or Sumeru at least, are just pretty polite (and in the allogenes case, very kind or friendly, even people like Alhaitham or Cyno, resting bitch faces they have, seem to soften a little when they’re walking around with you… maybe you’re just imagining it…)

And as much as you would love to wait until they understand you to do something more fun, as you can see the frustration on Tighnari’s face (and his ears try to flatten back hehe) as he looked like he was debating heatedly with some of the Sumeru sages who insist you stay in the city

…so why not go?

It’s not like they’re going to get it anytime soon, and it’s still too frustrating for yourself to charade things or draw things for them because you can’t even hear their guesses 💀

You can totally handle being like the traveler too, 

You still have access to your inventory afterall! Plus, lucky for you, you still find a pass for the Serenitea Pot in your little pocket dimension!

So now you have somewhere to sleep at night, and while most of your stuff went to the traveler’s pack, the things like Primogems

(which.. Okay now you really want primogems bc theyre so pretty and shiny irl)✨️

And other high-level things, or just objects of no use for the traveler (so basically all your hoarded level up stuff and infinite amount of weapons lol) came along with you

So you did have to wander the first week or so around the city and even commission the Adventurer’s Guild to grab you food supplies to cook with

Filling up, along with a few big waterskins, you’re off!

...and everyone collectively has a heart attack!

◇

When you show up in Ghandaraville essentially all “✨️💖☺️✨️” on Tighnari’s doorstep-

He chokes on the tea he’d been sipping on before he opened the door lol

He looks a little frazzled so you try to just gesture with “calm yourself small animal” energy with your hands

“Tivzgvhg Oliw! R'n- R- sld wrw blf-?! Mvevinrmw, xlnv rm, xlnv rm, ivhg! ...R mvvw gl hvmw z nroorlm ovggvih mld gl ylgs gsv vmgriv xrgb lu Hfnvif, gsv Zxgrmt Tizmw Hztv, zmw gsv Nzgiz nlhg orpvob…” he began out looking at you and talking and gesturing to his small dining table (the game sucks, his house looks great and has lots of cool rooms filled with interesting plants… oooo…so pretty...) 

But then he kinda just devolved into rambling, no need to understand, you can read the vibes and just know that's what he's doing lol

Collei eventually ducks in, and she looks a little panicked?

She’s quickly followed by Cyno, pushing past her to call out into the house,

His voice seems hard and stressed, looking at Tighnari, “Grtsmzir, szev blf hvvm gsv Tivzgvhg Oliw zmbdsviv, gsvb dviv hvvm xlnrmt gl Tszmwziezeroov ozhg-” 

Cyno stops and blinks.

Collei’s mouth is slightly dropped open, she also just, blinks.

You blink. 

Tighnari blinks tiredly, he looks like he’d rather be done for the day, you think.

The doctor sighs, and moves his head to nod towards the other dining seats.

◇

Sumeru foods are so much better looking in real life, and they’re so good too, your practically bloated by the end of dinner, 

As a thank you, bc u cant say it obv, you just gesture for Tighnari to stay sitting, and he gives you a raised eyebrow and a suspicious ear twitch

But stays still, and you reach out to finally hit the eight-pointed star hovering over his, and all playable characters chests at all times.

Like you suspected, it brings up a holographic character menu, but rather than his full model, it kind of hovers in front of Tighnari’s face, replacing his old 3D model self with framing the real thing for a portrait just in front of his face

The poor Denro user nearly jumps a foot out of his chair as he looks in shock at your screen, you do the same “chillll boy” gesture with your hands and press his shoulders for a second to remind him to not run off or panic

Cyno and Collei had done the dishes and put up leftovers, and are now standing behind Tighnari, watching with equally wide eyes,

“...Dszg ziv gsvb wlrmt gl blf?

Cyno’s voice is even deeper and quieter than usual, you feel goosebumps run up your spine

“Ziv blf tvggrmt yovhhvw, Nzhgvi Grtsmzir?!” Collei’s sweet voice is also hushed like she’s witnessing something sacred, Tighnari gently shakes his head negatively in response, his shoulders shrugging,

“Nzbyv? R uvvo... z orggov hgilmtvi, zmw nb Erhrlm rh zxgrmt fk zh dvoo…”

Though he’s replying, Tighnari’s eyes haven’t once left your ancient magic? technology device? hovering in front of him,

and as he crosses his arms and squints to try and look closer at everything floating in front of him, you can see the childlike gleam of awe in his green eyes, (so cute) in fact, now that you glance up and look, both Collei and Cyno have the same quietly excited and fascinated sparkle in their eyes too

With a displeased sneer, you chuck his old level one bow into the material grinding spots, hope he wasn’t attached to that…

Oh well, he’ll like the new one better, afterall, with no characters, all your best weapons and artifacts are ready to use!

With a small smile of reassurance, you finally finish gearing Tighnari up, tap a miniature version of that 8-point star in the corner like an “X” button, and it retreats like a classic TV set📺 turning off into his chest, he startles but then carefully stands

You decide to just start making decisions bc its worked out so far ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

And grab his hand and haul him out into the forest, Collei letting out a surprised squeak, her and Cyno hurrying after

You reach the nearest clearing, and gesture at Tighnari like a bow and arrow firing, he gets it, and your glad he already trusts you, because he doesn’t take long to summon his bow

He takes aim at a smaller tree about two cars length away

You can feel them all holding their breathe, as Tighnari charges it with Dendro, the arrowhead glowing, (it looks so cool and badass irl god you feel envious even tho ur already here-)

The ranger lets it fly, it streaks neon green, whistling through the air, it hits the tree-

and it fucking explodes.

Vines and leaves and the trees roots all rapidly swell like theyre filled with water, like it literally got hit by a superhero with plant powers, which, not that far off actually.

The green floating Dendro seeds make a ring around the tree its so full of elemental energy-

You give a wild grin, you still got it, hell yeah. >:)

Your grin widens as you look over at Tighnari, Collei, and Cyno

Cyno has a smirk lighting up his face, eyes eager, Collei’s jaw has dropped and she’s just frozen staring as the tree finally settles from the burst of the dendro powered arrow

…Tighnari has lowered his bow, and his mouth is only slightly open, his ears perked straight up into the air, shaking with excitement? Happiness? Interest? You don’t know how peopl-animal-hybrid ears work,

and you STILL cant talk to any of them to ask what they thought, so looks will have to do >:/

Tighnari is the first to move, his head snapping over to look at you, the brightest, kinda feral tbh, smile taking over his face-

“Blf pmld, dv xzm'g fmwvihgzmw blf, zmw blf fh, bvg R xzm'g dzrg gl hvv dszg rm gsv dliow blf'iv tlrmt gl wl mvcg. Blf'iv znzarmt."

… and you just 🙂? Cool!

And give a thumbs up👍LMAO

☆

Bonus:

Alhaitham was literally running around Sumeru City trying to find you when you left, tho you did try and leave a translatable-in-3-to-5-business days-note, he didn’t have time to translate that because you were gone.

Or worse, lost in the city, and he would never forgive himself if he lost you, esp as Acting Grand Sage-

Kaveh got a letter a day and a half later from Tighnari letting them know you were having a sleepover in Ghandarvaville lol

Kaveh also had to hunt down Alhaitham to give him said news, then force his roommate to go sit or lay down for the rest of the day to recover lmao

(Haitham honestly kinda freaked Kaveh out bc he’s never seen him that... desperate, it was like seeing a statue emote lol)

♡

ARE YOU KIDDING WE ALMOST HIT LIMIT AGAIN?!

Bro has anyone else had this problem???

I literally had to switch from PC to mobile and copy and paste it there to get all my shit in and tumblr not throw a hissy fit???!!!

FUCKING TUMBLR- SUCK MY BIG FAT- 👹👹 UGH

ANYWAYYYY SO I FINALLY CAVED 

And started doing ciphers for when you dont get teyvat’s language! I meant to do something fun like this for awhile but I wasn’t sure if that would be kind of annoying, but if you’re interested in learning what they actually say (which the whole point of this is that dw it doesnt rlly matter lol) here’s a hint:

*hint = Atbash

:> good luck!

Wish me luck on my art exhibition today!! Then I’ll be homefreeeee 😭

Safe Travels,

💀♒

♡ the beloveds ♡

@karmawonders / @0rah-s / @randomnatics / @glxssynarvi / @nexylaza / @genshin-impacts-me / @wholesomey-artist

[newtkelly]

Not to word vomit on you but I can't stop thinking about Oliver wanting a love story like Tarlos and how it all accidentally lined up.

Knowing that Carlos and TK were about to move in, and then Carlos made that romantic gesture and TK got scared because it was, "too good to be true."

Carlos is left, confused, puzzled and nursing a broken-heart but still just as in love. What do you mean that TK and Carlos saw a future together, one got scared at that prospect and left before Carlos was the one to leave??

What do you mean that happened after Oliver said he wanted Bucktommy to have a love story like Tarlos; where it was always going to be them?

Then you consider Oliver saying that we might see Tommy and Buck interact during a call and it'll be awkward and who can't help but think of TK and Carlos running into the furniture store and seeing each other for the first time in weeks.

Anyways, sorry to be delusional in your ask box. I'm deep within the Tarlos trenches so this is all starting to look eerily familiar lmao (it could also be Tim is out of ideas, which is most likely the case)

Please feel free to word vomit on me always, I live for it.

Receiving this ask has actually prompted me to share some thoughts that I’ve held back from sharing, just because I wasn’t sure if it was worth it to throw more speculation into the void. But this message is so lovely, and I agree with it so much and so… okay I will share some of my mixed bag of thoughts about this whole situation.

Firstly, I adore Tarlos and LS (even if I don’t post about either much), TK is my baby, and the interesting thing about them for me is that I wound up caring for them more AFTER they broke up and got back together. If Buck and Tommy’s story is formatted as a rom-com, TK and Carlos are a tragicomedy. TK, the heartbroken recovering addict thrust into an entirely new city, a new career, who doesn’t want to let himself get too close to something good because he is misery incarnate. Carlos, the hopeful hopeless romantic who sees TK and doesn’t see something that needs fixing, but someone who his love could help heal. It’s such a gorgeous story, and the symmetry of both characters shockingly losing a parent in a tragic way is painfully beautiful. I LOVE their love story.

That brings me to Oliver and Tim’s comments. Throughout the Buck and Tommy relationship, my belief that this would be Buck’s final relationship only ever wavered twice. The first time was in the immediate aftermath of their first date (I spent the whole episode thinking that Tommy was actually reintroduced to kick off the bi awakening plotline and Buck was not acquiring a boyfriend) and the second time was towards the tail end of the summer hiatus when I legitimately began to doubt Lou would want to come back given everything that transpired. Other than that, I had full faith that this was it, this was Buck getting off the “hamster wheel”—Tim’s words, not mine.

I had confidence for a few reasons. 1 – the story was always handled with care onscreen and gave us no reason to think they weren’t going to work out. 2 – the chemistry was insane, and I knew it couldn’t just be me because an entire fandom was born. Tim and tptb must have seen what we saw. 3 – the supplementary information funneled to us through articles and Tim’s social media, literally up until post-8x06 never seemed to indicate that their relationship was headed in this direction. A big part of that was the comparison to Tarlos.

In order to protect myself (should I name the list of shows, movies, couples that I’ve fixated on that wound up playing out in dissatisfying ways?), I am awfully pessimistic. The post-episode interviews, articles, + hearing a bit from LFJ and OS has me wondering if this was some mass hallucination. Did we truly cling to something good and blow it up, run with it? Was this always the plan? I’ve wondered if because S7 was so short and S8 required that other characters get the spotlight first/other stories needed to be told and wrapped, and if because of production and scheduling and whatever external reasons, did their relationship wind up having a longer life than was ever intended. Were they ever supposed to make it to six months? Were they ever supposed to make it past the fucking wedding? I have been asking myself this stuff a lot. Alternatively, did something happen that made them want to or have to part ways with LFJ? So many questions, and I’m not sure we’ll ever know.

But… then there’s the delusional side of me, and the reason I haven’t totally abandoned hope is because when I was watching 8x06 live, EVERYTHING in me told me that this is a necessary section of the rom-com formula. Even the call-backs throughout the episode made me feel like the writers are so painfully aware, and that the narrative wants these characters to be together (Miceli’s, Abby, basketball, going to the movies, calling an uber, the loft kitchen, “you’re not ready”)—the motifs were absolutely popping off. I did not think it was the end when the episode ended. I wondered when and how they would find their way back to each other to fulfill the rom-com genre, but what I did NOT expect was to open social media and see articles framing this as the end. I wasn’t surprised when I found out who wrote the articles, and listen—if they bait one side of the fandom, can’t they bait the other? I still have some hope, because at the end of the day, anything can happen with network television. Maybe this is all part of the plan, and the interviews should be taken with a grain of salt. I just don’t know.

Interviews with Tim and Oliver from day one positioned the Buck and Tommy relationship as a queer love story devoid of trauma. Okay, well… huh. From where I was sitting, there was A TON of explicitly queer trauma exposed in 8x06. Their “hurdle” is tied utterly and completely to queerness. Tommy runs because he is a gay man who doesn’t trust that his bisexual boyfriend should “settle” for him, and who would rather be alone than heartbroken, and if that truly is the last of Tommy, it has to be one of the coldest and cruelest exits we’ve ever seen on this show. Do they simply not realize how deeply traumatized both characters come off in that episode, or is it all part of the plan? If the interviews positioning this as the permanent end of bucktommy should be taken at face value, shouldn’t the other interviews that position them as a rom-com (with the formulaic third act breakup, boils and all) be taken as the truth as well? If there was some misinterpretation, why hasn’t Tim said anything—he clearly knows a lot of fans were hurt by what they watched. He must have seen the outrage—why radio silence? Did we truly blow this out of proportion? Are the wheels coming off behind the scenes? I need a tell-all at this point lol

Thank you for the lovely ask, I’ve been sitting with these thoughts all week so this was a good excuse to finally articulate them. <3

[cthulhuwritesstuff]

Here’s a prediction I will just leave here so I can compare how wrong I probably was once the episodes are out. Here we go.

I am gonna be honest, I really don’t think this is “Apology Tour”

I don’t know. It is too Halloween coded. If the pumpkins and Stolas’ vampire cape and jack-o’-lanterns ain’t screaming about it, the fact that they’re in the Living World in their true forms might suggest they are allowed to do so on Halloween cause it looks like cool costumes? Which, btw, I love as a concept, just hanging out with humans once a year completely chill.

And considering that we got Cherubs and D.H.O.R.K.S. all together in Full Moon, this Blitz Sucks concert might be what is happening at the same time as the Hotel job in Ghostfuckers.

Here’re my thoughts: both Stolas and Blitz need to distract themselves with some sort of excitement and/or danger, and Stolas goes to sing with Verosika while Blitz takes on a job that’s a bit “out of their depth”.

Stolas is singing his cursed little heart out…

… while shit goes down with the I.M.P, something that might as well happen simultaneously in a song to action sequence (doing a Shrek again, maybe? This is a stretch, but I would love to see “I need a hero” based badass action sequence here, I’m not gonna lie.)

And that whatever Blitz experiences here, with the possible possession and having a flashback or a hallucination of his mom (or more with those scenes when he sees Fizz in the hospital), leads him to seek out Stolas after they are done at the creepy Norman Bates coded Von Eldritch hotel.

He might have to “go through” Verosika and have that “You are so shitty” argument (“Where is he?” / “Why should I tell you?” — back and forth, back and forth), but eventually, Verosika could soften and Blitz would get to Stolas (back at the palace) and they might actually, finally have a conversation.

Yeah, I think all of this happens in Ghostfuckers, and I can’t help but expect a blast out of this episode (whether I am right or so so so wrong, I don’t care, this is fun) since Brandon is really excited about this one. He seems so proud of it each time he talks about it. Following his work and knowing how masterful he is as a storyteller, I know how much he can pack in a short time and make it hilarious, exciting and heart wrenching in equal measure— and at the same time. And that man puts his many hearts into everything he does.

That all goes to say, I am incredibly excited for the future episodes. This show makes me so happy. I just love theorizing.

[theoraclephobetor]

I tend to lose a bit of focus in Fromage, because Hannibal and Will are each playing their long games, and I don't find Tobias Budge interesting. Maybe I would if he wasn't just another mirror for Hannibal. Maybe even as a mirror, I'd like him more if we hadn't just finished 2 other episodes with Ripper copycats.

Tobias is just... too esoteric in his aims. He kills for art, sure, but doesn't care about the performance. He's an artist who keeps all of his masterpieces hidden in his basement. I generally detest people who think that only they can properly appreciate a piece of art, and Tobias seems like one of those people. At least Hannibal has that line about "it's not what you enjoy, but how". But Tobias? He bores me. He's just an elitist asshole who stays friends with Franklyn to make himself feel superior. It's bland narcissistic behaviour.

Even Will's trial-by-fire isn't super interesting until we get to see Hannibal's reaction to it. We know that he just - impulsively - pointed Will towards the serial killer who had a plan to kill every agent he encountered. But Will had just kissed Alana, and Tobias had just got away, and Franklyn had been pissing him off for weeks, and Hannibal pulls a move while he's in emotional shambles.

We know that Will must survive Tobias (this was well before the "kill your leads" trope became common in shows), but Hannibal has no sweet clue what he's done. You can see it as he looks around his office after the fight. Hannibal is a predator, and very used to killing people, but Tobias' death was a hard-won victory. And Hannibal knows that Will is sick, hallucinating, and unused to fighting someone who has nothing to lose.

For a few seconds, he honestly thinks he might have killed Will. I don't believe for a second that Hannibal wouldn't have rationalized his way out of guilt and grief. But killing Will wasn't something he actually wanted to do. I think he sent Will to the den of a snake, knowing that his mongoose would be able to handle himself. It's only when Will actually walks through the door - and Hannibal feels the relief of knowing he's survived - that he really understands just how much he nearly fucked up.

No Will means no friend means no possible future where he gets to prove that he's different from someone like Franklyn. Hannibal's whole self-image is tied up so tightly with his expectations for Will that he can't separate Will's fate from his own anymore.

(And I honestly think this is the moment that Hannibal realizes that he's in love. It's not even their most meaningful conversation, but it's the moment that Hannibal has to face a world without Will - and decides he doesn't want it. That he's going to keep Will alive.

Not necessarily healthy or free of suffering, but definitely alive.)

[eyesteeth]

predictions and theories for what’s to come. tsv spoilers up to tsv42 / s3e13, cw for content in line with what has been previously established in canon, long post (~2.5k)//

disclaimer: i’m not on the patreon or wherever the early access content is. if i guess something correctly do NOT tell me for the love of sweet salmon i will manifest crabs in your house

convergence

it’s kind of a given for this kind of show that convergence will happen in the final season: all (or most of) the main characters get in one spot before the final fight goes off. i’ve been betting for a very long time on everyone arriving at the tree camp before the big battle. i didn’t think it was gonna happen for a little bit in the middle, but i see the vision now:

paige is already in the camp

carpenter, hayward, and shrue are gonna head over once they’re done with their business

the aquifer is close to the tree cap so faulkner (and possibly rane) make the walk there

val is the exception - she might physically be there but i don’t think she has to be nor do i think she will be for reasons i’ll get into later

now, i don’t think convergence is gonna happen in the next episode, but i think it’ll happen in the penultimate one (or the episode after next episode, depending on if they split it in two again). what i think is gonna happen next episode is:

shrue does their speech and instantly after the carpenter-hayward-shrue trio hightails it outta there as the episode ends.

paige begins to enact her plan with the help of the tree camp friends we've met over the course of the season

faulkner decides to kill himself by walking into the god-winds and ends up at the camp (or this might happen in the episode after that i’m undecided) and rane might follow

val begins her big plan and Consequences start brewing

maybe a bit with the powers that be, most likely with shrue’s segment or in relation to val cutting communication 

i don’t have much to say to the first point. shrue does their speech and it goes about as well as a politically incendiary speech can go. either the last scene of that group that episode is them getting in the car and Zooming back to camp or them getting approached by security. though to me personally i think there’s gonna be a run from security types, someone pulls the car around for the other two to hop in, and they drive off tires squealing.

second point i have less to say to. we know paige has a plan, but the nature of that plan is currently vague. whatever it is, it begins to be carried out. not much else to say at this stage.

third point i have Too Much to say about. faulkner’s fully defeated by this point, and given faulkner’s “i’m tired” comment last episode and the comment paige received about prophets “walking out into the storm”, i think faulkner’s going to do exactly that. and i have a variety of ideas on what could happen on the journey!! you can mix and match from the following list:

rane tries to stop him and fails

rane ends up following him from a distance, alerting them to the camp and making More Future Problems in the process

rane dies or is killed while trying to get faulkner to go back to the aquifer

faulkner gets god-wind hallucinations of any/multiple from this list: carpenter, his dad, charlie, eddie, mason

he ends up playing marco polo with the winds

faulkner meets the cairn maiden in the same spot paige did and he talks to her and gets some insight on if/when he’s going to die soon (or he doesn’t and just passes by) (or he stops for shelter in that cave but doesn’t see the maiden) (or he just, fucking dies)

fully walks to camp on his own, mirroring the journey he took between season one and season two

gets absolutely fucked up by the trip and rescued by paige while she’s in the area enacting her plan, contrasting with the season one kidnapping

he actually doesn’t go into the god-winds this episode, rane convinces him back into the aquifer but he manages to slip away by the episode’s end and spends the beginning of the penultimate (or not, as stated before) episode in the winds and convergence happens then

(which allows the potential of timing so when carpenter arrives back at camp faulkner is hallucinating out of his mind and she runs into him like that and he thinks she’s a hallucination but shes not and [i am bonked on the head and dragged away before i can continue])

fourth point, again, not much to say there. i had mentioned the idea of val intentionally monkey’s paw-ing people early in the season, but now i think the good she’s going to try to do is going to have an unintentional consequence. possibly bootstrap theory or bootstrap theory adjacent. i’ll explain what that means in a second.

fifth point, self-explanatory. if shrue’s not saying what the powers that be want, they might intervene. or, val saying she doesn’t want her mother and cutting contact sends them into a panic, and we get some cuts to the boardroom and their balancing act of “woo we won the war” and “we have lost control of our reality-warping nuke on two legs''.

bootstrap theory interlude: it gets more and more viable with each new episode and it has me on edge

so way back when val was first introduced this season i posted about how she blows the power scaling of this series through the roof because of how much she can do. one of the things i used as a hypothetical was her saying that the gods never existed. this then grew from an off-the-cuff statement to a full hypothetical that i’d rotate from time to time. it made sense to me from a thematic standpoint - carpenter talks in season one about how much of a waste gods are, considers in season two what life would be like without a god, and the tagline of season three is “kill your gods” - but i could never see it happening practically until now. val, on a benevolent god kick, goes on a wish-granting spree and ends up destroying all gods and herself in the process. 

the core of this idea was formed when our first big moment with val was in the form of “never”, making it so something never existed. her doing this with the gods would absolutely be a bootstrap - she wouldn’t exist without gods, and if she didn’t exist, the wish couldn’t be granted, so there would be gods, then she would exist, then she’d make the wish, congrats you’ve made a bootstrap paradox.

i don’t think that theory in that form is going to happen. val’s avoided paradoxes so far, and she’s shifted away from “nevers” to making things happen in the current moment. she could, if she reaches a certain point, say she doesn’t want gods to exist anymore, in which case she’d either be counted as a god and die too, or the force of such a declaration would just kill her on the spot. if done right, it could be very thematically fulfilling, but if done wrong, it would feel like an utter cop-out.

this is my bootstrap-adjacent theory, and i’m very loose on this happening. pretty much everything else i’ve listed so far feels firmly within the realm of possibility to me, while this one is more “wouldn’t it be cool/fucked up if this happened”

miscellaneous (but important)

i’m gonna forget points cause i have a sieve for a brain but but some story threads that i think are gonna be relevant are:

carpenter’s tree dream from s3e1. that was specifically a willow tree, and the willow tree is what’s been mentioned in tsv41, so that’s absolutely connected. if i am to lean on old theories again, the cairn maiden’s reliance “this has always been the place” and val’s ability to change the past could have some relevance if a multiple-god fight goes down, but i’m not entirely sold on the idea of that happening, more just in the space of them being potential thematic parallels.

the big ol’ wave in s3e1. that was implied to have been caused by the trawler-man in some way, and i can think of three possible explanations: a) faulkner was simply praying So Damn Hard for his sister’s safety that the trawler-man was like “yeah sure i’ll do that” and it was long-range protection, b) the bit about carpenter and faulkner fighting for champion status in the fake beach episode script was in fact insane foreshadowing that faulkner’s not special but carpenter is and she’s the world’s most (un)luckiest gal with two (debatably three) gods watching out for her and that wave was the trawler-man protecting his special favoritest follower (which could also be why the wave came in the s1 finale, the trawler-man was responding specifically to carpenter and faulkner just wasn’t doing shit), or c) carpenter and faulkner combined get enough trawler-man attention, they were both needed to summon the s1 finale wave, and so faulkner specifically praying for carpenter’s safety made it trigger because it was both of them. she’s the sediment and he’s the water, you need both to make silt, they’re two mouths on the same face that wants outta this shit, thematic overload, kablooey. i am fully prepared for none of these three to be canon but the wave has to come back.

paige's riddle: this is either an outstandingly long death flag (either of them are not going to be able to give the answer because either the giver or receiver will be dead), has some deeply thematic answer, or is Simply A Bit. sometimes a spade is just a spade. shrugs.

val’s mom: this is a given. will she show up? will val move past the notion of wanting her mother? is there some weird twist with the mom? (val’s reaction at the end of that segment reminded me of shrue thinking about their family and the uncertainty of their existence, could perhaps val be unsure of her mother’s existence?) it’s gotta lead somewhere, unless it intentionally Doesn't.

rane: i stated before that i don’t think rane is gonna survive the season and i still mostly stand by that. my main thoughts concerning rane have to deal with their change in perception and interaction towards faulkner. they’ve always been perceptive (iirc it was noted back in s3e4 that they knew faulkner was unstable when they gave him the news) but they were there to support him and were happy to do so. now they’ve gotten more bitter and upset, and i doubt them or faulkner will be willing to reasonably talk it out. i can think of a handful of scenarios in which rane dies (fights with faulkner in a way that reminds faulkner of thurrocks and he does a black-out murder again, rane gets misled by the winds when going after faulkner and dies out there, some Different threat picks them off, they see carpenter and faulkner at the tree camp together after convergence and attempt to kill carpenter and are killed instead by someone present) but only one where they live (let faulkner go to his presumed death and lead the river people themself). if they go out, which i think they will, it's gotta have thematic weight baby

rough outline of thoughts

so, provided we’re getting three episodes and one of them doesn’t split again:

tsv43 / s3e14: carpenter, hayward, and shrue do shrue’s speech thing. because this is incredibly incendiary, they gotta zoom outta there back to tree camp, likely evading security. at the tree camp, paige makes big progress on her plan. val also makes big progress on her plan. carson and the powers that be might show up for some fucking around, possibly having to juggle both the val problem and the shrue problem. rane either drags faulkner back to the aquifer where he has one last bout of misery before finally fucking off into the winds with the intent to die, or he just is in the winds asap and spends his whole chunk of the episode in the wastes without protective gear and experiences Various Horrors. events would likely not happen in the order described here. if all of this were to go down, this episode might also be split in two, or some of this would happen in 44. i am pretty confident in these events occuring, however.

tsv44 / s3e15: convergence time. carpenter, hayward, and shrue pull up at the camp. either faulkner’s already there because he got there in 43 or he’s on the way and shows up during his segment. an absolute clusterfuck of character conversation occurs, paige and hayward riddle time, faulkner apologizing to carpenter, shrue being confused out of their mind, paige explains the plan to the gang (likely sans faulkner cause he’s not technically part of the tree gang but he's in the area when it happens) and the plan is all set up by the end of the episode. meanwhile, val’s a wreck doing her thing. i find the idea of her not being alive for the final episode (and that the conflict the gang faces is the Consequences of her powers as opposed to her specifically) quite enticing, so i’m going to say that she succumbs to her body breaking down as she does the Consequences Thing. the point of the mother is resolved - either she finds her mother or she moves past that desire, and she dies just in time for shit to get Fucked for our heroes.

tsv45 / s3e16: something has gone Horribly Wrong! is it val’s plan? is it paige’s plan? is it both? would both plans have worked independently but have coincided in a horrible awful mess? who knows!! get ready for the wildest hour of podcasting you ever did hear. i think at least one of the main four is gonna die, if not more, and we will all probably cry. (if this ending is unsatisfying i am going to drop everything and write a massive fix-it fic, mark my words.) we’ll probably get a better idea of this potential conflict as val and paige’s plans come to light in 43 and 44.

lightning round

purely things i think would be cool and have some, but less likelihood of happening:

sid wright cameo (if shrue’s gonna be on the radio, maybe a brief moment of him?)

gage pops up (given that they were a god hunter last season and the tagline of this season is “kill your gods”, they could show up as an asset)

the withermark gets used (provided i’m remembering correctly, it was initially in bellwethers, which is close to the camp, and therefore the aquifer, so rane could potentially get their hands on it. at this point in the series i severely doubt either carpenter or faulkner would use it unless they were in Fucking Dire circumstances)

carpenter and faulkner play marco polo yet again, going three for three on marco polo happening each season

some meta reacharound (the series was called the silt verses because these events were being recorded in the silt verses the whole time!! woahg!!)

faulkner goes by richard/richie again and/or carpenter goes by mallory again

anyway thanks for listening to me ramble for 2.5k this podcast has me unwell

[desidarling123]

SAB Scene Breakdown: Inej's Hallucination

OK, so I had actually been meaning to write and publish some meta on this particular scene (and just tons of SAB S2 meta, in general) in the weeks after the second season of the show came out. But life has been crazy recently, so I truly never found the time.

However, I reblogged a certain gifset a few days/weeks ago, slapped some tags on it, and realized there might indeed be some interest in some more #detailed thoughts.

The analysis that follows is at a pretty minute level of detail (and all of course based on MY views) so... take that with a grain of salt.

Also - fair warning - it's long as hell 😂 but entertaining, I hope!

I find this whole sequence in general super fascinating - it's one of my favorite scenes in the second season, and one that's also arguably subject to the absolute worst takes in fandom (iykyk... and if you don't, well, you're about to find out.)

So, let's get into it:

We start off strong with a very specific choice, made early on: it's not Inej seducing Kaz; rather, it's Kaz who's drawing Inej into this vision.

I get a bit more into the broader implications of that a bit later, but it's definitely important that it's done this way, rather than the other way around.

It's also, very notably, an inverse of this scene from a few episodes earlier:

What's unique about that previous scene is that in that moment, he's deliberately pushing her away (for reasons, mind you, that she's not entirely privy to, but definitely hurt her regardless - even if she pretends not to care about it to his face later on).

This is different. Instead of pushing her away, he is asking her to stay.

The choice of words is specific too: the word 'disappear' most obviously references her status as his spider. But it might also be an apt description of her own personal trappings, of 'disappearing' when in the throes of trauma-induced pressure.

Some atmospheric details I love:

Their IRL confrontation was in his office-cum-bedroom (👀shutup), a tiny, crammed space that matched the tension of that scene. This is the opposite of that - the room has a more open layout, imbuing the whole sequence with a more relaxed vibe. We can even see his cane chilling on the table behind him, just in reaching distance.

The DeKappel painting which they jointly stole in the books (and presumably on the show as well) is behind them.

Fire burning as a symbol for latent passion is not exactly groundbreaking imagery, but don't fix what ain't broke, amirite? :P

Malina, very notably, gets the same fire imagery treatment in their own love scene as well:

Will it show up again in a future season for kanej? Between that and, well, the recurring church imagery, we're in for a tossup, folks

But anyways. Back to the scene at hand.

You'll notice Inej goes back to a formal stance, hands behind her back, like she's preparing for a debrief or for an assignment. It's for a few seconds, if that, but it shows that she's grasping at some semblance of normalcy in this decidedly not-normal vision.

That facade lasts for all of, two seconds, tops, when he does this:

It's sexy! It's intimate! There's knives involved!

Okay, but seriously, for the sake of time I actually will not get into a deeper discussion of the ~implications~ because I'm sure it's been done a zilllion times before and it's also fairly obvious lol

Now, the one thing I *do* want to pivot to here is that by this point, both Inej and the audience understand that there is something very subtly yet fundamentally different about hallucination!Kaz.

But what is it?

Speaking on this scene, Freddy Carter had a quote (that I cannot be arsed to find rn) where he basically said that he deferred to Amita when playing hallucination!Kaz because "she (Amita) knows better (than I do) what it is that Inej likes about Kaz"

And what is it, exactly, that she likes about him? The next few gifs tell all, using actions rather than words.

This is her reaction to him pulling her knives from her. And what I find so interesting is that she is so (rightfully) startled....

But that is absolutely NOT the expression on his face at all.

In fact, he's remarkably self-assured.

And THAT, I think, is the crux of 'what it is she likes about him', as Frreddy said.

She likes his decisiveness, the single-minded precision with which he operates.

She's seen him apply it to every last scheme, every seemingly-hopeless situation... to damn near everything in the world, really, but her.

But here, in the depths of her hallucination, he does.

There are none of his usual hangups, none of their typically frustrating back-and-forths.

No. Here, he doesn't hesitate. He wants her, and he makes it known.

Striking, sexy stuff, to say least.

Let's go on:

Nothing to add here except that I'm obsessed with the way their heads turn at the same time here.

It's funny, because for all their personal hang-ups when it comes to physical intimacy, these two are SURPRISINGLY physically attuned to each other.

Goes to show, really, how much both of their problems are in their heads (obviously) -- and how, when they're actually ready to heal, relying on their intuition may be a better approach than getting too cerebral about it.

Again, Kaz does not break eye contact with her here, and it's such a contrast to what he might have instead done if this were happening in real life - in fact, does happen, in real life, though I'd argue that isn't exactly his fault.

I love that we get a moment where Inej looks down and sees his hand hovering near her waist, just so that it's made explicitly clear what he's asking for and what the ~implications~ are.

And then, she says yes! Enthusiastically, I might add.

Not but seriously the sheer want, the little touch of eagerness on her face kills me here. She's never had this experience before - has only ever known men violating her in the most horrible way possible - and yet this tiny little thing, of Kaz asking her for consent, means so much.

Oh my God Kaz is so sexy here sorry no words anyway carrying on.

Now even after she said yes you can see this sudden little beat of hesitation on her face, like she's maybe not sure what's going to happen or if Kaz is going to do what she asked. For her it's a moment of incredible vulnerability, even though Kaz is the one sort of making the advances on her - because this one time, she actually gets to say yes.

I think that shot of his arm going around her waist is so gorgeous and so sensual - but as we pan up we can see that maybe all isn't well.

Now, Amita also really does a fantastic job at portraying the turbulence of Inej's emotions -- she goes from clearly wanting it and saying 'yes', to visibly panicking once he acts on it. We see her shift around in his grip and even swallow nervously, blink-blink-blinking herself back into the moment.

Her response is reminiscent of this passage from the books:

But what might have happened if he'd spoken that night? If he had willingly offered her some part of his heart? What if he had come to her, laid his gloves aside, drawn her to him, kissed her mouth? Would she have pulled him closer, kissed him back? Could she have been herself in such a moment, or would she have broken apart and vanished, a doll in his arms, a girl who could never quite be whole?

You can see the very beginning of that sort of panic start to set in, here. This is completely uncharted territory for Inej - her own desire, the shame and baggage that comes with it, is all getting uncovered for the first time in what is arguably the 'safest' way possible - within the confines of her own mind - and yet, she's still panicking.

More on that in a bit. Let's keep going.

Anyways well Freddy's got a huge hand sorry anyway 

I love the way she closes her eyes here. And you can see again it's not without effort - like there's still conflict within her, you can see all of those different emotions warring within her - but she is trying to let herself have this moment. She's trying to take comfort in this touch that she so desperately wants and yet hasn't had any sort of good connotations with in recent history. 

She also opens her eyes just as he starts to lean in and I think that was a great, deliberate choice on Amita and Freddy's part.

It's that precise moment, really, when it becomes super super clear to her what's about to happen.

No notes, I just really love this forehead lean, it's that little bit of tenderness and intimacy that she's been subconsciously craving.

 Again, it's fascinating to me that we can see all of Inej's nervous tics coming into play here, but for hallucination!Kaz there's absolutely no hesitation at any point whatsoever.

It looks like, for all intents and purposes, he is going to kiss her.

And then at the very very last second you see him move back, ever-so-slightly --

and then she moves all the way back and delivers her line:

Ouch. Like a punch to the gut. True, but still ouch.

Now one could probably ask, in hypotheticals: why didn't he actually kiss her at this moment? And the answer to that simply is: this is her hallucination, you know? Even though she's not conscious of it (she's dying lol), she's the one with all the power, here.

And truthfully, whether she knows it or not, nothing is going to happen in her hallucination if she doesn't want it to.

But wait, you might say. Doesn't she want to kiss Kaz?

Like that original excerpt from the book indicates, it's complicated. Everything pertaining to desire generally will be, for her.

Not that her subconscious doesn't put up a good ol' fight. Hallucination!Kaz, you have to remember, isn't so much Kaz as he is a very precise amalgamation of her own memories and desires.

And boy, does he make a good argument:

The word want, again, spoken so directly here - it's that sort of straightforward speech that neither party is actually really capable of (at this point) in their arcs, not when it comes to each other.

Again, Kaz is behaving perfectly in the prescribed character of his hallucination persona - direct, confident, not rattled in the slightest.

It's interesting also that he doesn't say: this is real. He isn't able to lie to her in her own fantasy, but he does instead tell her exactly what she wants to hear, which is arguably even more dangerous.

And what I feel so terrible about is you can see this tiny little spark this little bit of hope on her face that she has.

She wants to believe this so so badly. She wants it, damn it!

So this time, she actually moves closer, crosses that distance between them. 

You can't see it super well in this gif, but you can see a little tiny muscle twitch in her jaw, a nervous swallow as she's bracing for him to kiss her the second time. And once again, Kaz isn't hesitating, there isn't any note of that discordant thing that they have in real life from his end.

Now another thing that drives me crazy is people claiming that they did kiss in the scene like bro. Bro. Freddy and Amita did not shoot this scene at no less three separate angles for you to tell us that they kissed!! They didn't kiss, they make it incredibly obvious that they did not kiss, and if you're the one person on planet Earth whose definition of a kiss is front lips brushing for .0000000002 seconds then I'm sorry, you belong to a different category, okay?

And again, that was on purpose! It totally would have defeated the purpose of this particular sequence if they had (and would've given detractors of this scene a real leg to stand on - again, more on that at the very end.)

But as it stands, they don't kiss, and that's also kind of critically why this isn't just a sexy scene to watch back.

AND THEN (I'm out of allowed images HAHA) she pulls away. And she says the words that end it all - This isn't real. This is the poison.

The premise of the hallucination is completely shattered, and she looks so heartbroken, but she's finally able to articulate what she's really known this whole time, and that is that nothing she's seeing is real. It is a lie being fed to her by her poison-addled brain as her body slowly succumbs and dies (dark).

But you know, she does get out of it through sheer willpower, and we love her for that - but oh man but what cost?

This particular sequence is definitely a catalyst for her changed behavior going forward. I do actually wish it had been a little better handled in the show (as in, better supported by dialogue in scenes before and after this one) but regardless - this scene is a Big Tipping Point and starts what is essentially a pseudo-regression arc for Inej (paraphrasing Amita directly, bc that's truly the most apt description of Inej's behavior for the rest of the season.)

It's really bad timing, unfortunately, because it happens just as Kaz is starting to open up like never before. He's starting to see the world in a completely different light while she's doing the exact opposite -- she is shutting down her own dreams and desires when it comes to him, because she's come to the conclusion that it's simply not going to happen.

And you know what, she's not entirely wrong for that assumption, but I do have beef with some of the particulars of how it was executed in the show. But that's a discussion for another day.

Now, onto a brief rant that I alluded to at the very start of this post - my single biggest grievance with fandom is that someone on the internet decided that this scene somehow ‘erased’ Inej’s trauma, when in fact that exact trauma is what underpins the whole damn thing.

The fact that this scene more or less parallels the passage from the books beat for beat, shows, in my opinion, that book fans who make these claims of 'erasure' must have deliberately chosen to ignore this passage from the books, or never even read it in the first place.

Because frankly? Once you take that passage into consideration, the intent of this sequence couldn't have been more obvious!

Just to underscore my point, I want to ask anyone who's reading this to please compare and contrast Inej’s hallucination with Matthias’ dream. If the intent, as many so often like to claim, was simply to make this moment in Inej’s mind a sexy, titillating scene, well then, it would have been shot a lot more closely to the way Matthias’ dream was shot: there's no lack of kissing and even implied penetration (!) which is crazy, because of course, Matthias and Nina have gotten nowhere near that in real life.

There's a sexual aspect to her dream, for sure, but it's not a stereotypically-passionate 'sex dream' so much as it is a thinly-veiled reading into her own desires and the inner turmoil that comes with it.

There's also a very subtle undercurrent here that I picked up on and explore in my ongoing fic , which is that Kaz, in these fantasies, is really always the one taking the lead, so to speak. Inej is not pulling him close or asking to kiss him - and we see that even when she consents to the act, she looks like she's bracing herself for it, rather than excited that it'll happen.

That is fueled no doubt by 1) her realizing it isn't real but also 2) the fact that she is still very much in the middle of her own trauma (having been freed like what? mere days ago? if that?)

Any concept of her own independent desire is still saddled with IMMENSE baggage - and this sequence showcases it perfectly.

I think after the fact, she's consciously aware of 1) but not yet aware of 2) which is beating around in her subconscious and is probably gonna cause her WAYY more problems going forward lol

TLDR; Inej doesn't know it just yet, but she's got loads of her own issues to work through, and until she does, she's going to be stuck in this weird purgatory of being a voyeur to/of her own desires.

[archivalofsins]

I find it really funny when people are like Milgram is up to interpretation. In the its not meant to be solvable it's meant to be a thought experiment. Because it does to an extent show that many people believe a good mystery and a thought experiment cannot coexist. Even though that's most of the mystery genre.

Mysteries especially murder mysterious are made with the intent to reflect on the nature and finality of human beings.

So it doesn't have to be one or the other.

Even funnier that this is being said all the while the creators could not have been more direct about these stories having concrete solutions/answers that can be discerned through interrogating what's been presented so far.

Like,

Note: This post will be heavily referencing the translation of the hallucination booklet Q&A by DoctorBunny.

Q.01 Introduce Yourself.

I’m Takuya Yamanaka. I’m the creator/planner/screenwriter for MILGRAM.

Q.15 Is there anything the guards aren’t aware of yet?

Yamanaka: Of course, there may be some minor details, but I don’t think there are any major points missing. The mysteries have already disseminated, I feel the full picture will be clearly revealed if the theories and wild speculations, which have been shared around the world, come together. As expected.

Q.01 Introduce Yourself.

I’m DECO*27. I work as the music producer for MILGRAM. I like Hatsune Miku.

Q.04 So far, what’s made you the happiest?

DECO: It makes me happy to see lots of people analysing the meanings I put in my songs! The theories get pretty close to the truth too, I think… the power of all the guards is really cool.

There's just been a lot of implications that the there's an answer to these things.

Fun notes

This has absolutely nothing to do with this point but-

Q.07 Which prisoners are the easiest to write dialogue/music for?

Yamanaka: If I had to pick one, it’d be Fuuta. He’s the type of person that’s pretty easy to write because his brain never shuts up. Other than him, Yuno and Shidou are relatively academic kids in theory, so they’re easy to write because they’re very clear when it comes to what they want to convey. [TL note just because its funny, the idiom Yamanaka uses is lit. “There is barking in the inside [of Fuuta’s] head]

Salamander, "It's heating up inside my head! I can't stop- I don't want to stop!"

Bring It On, "What I want to hear is the scream deep inside you!"

Q.14 What are you thinking about at the moment?

Futa: I wonder if this is what anxiety feels like. I want something I can rely on.

Futa literally in the middle of the night about his victim probably with little to no prompting (not even a fucking segue thought of his own).The entertainment value and mileage I've gotten out of this one fucking video is damn miraculous really. Man who's never had a moment not thinking in his life gets even more points to run around in his head due to the fucking voices in Milgram.

Like I know the covers are just fanservice/have nothing to do with why the prisoners are here but damn if it ain't good fanservice. Because the implication that before this Futa was just going of internally forever without pause is just mood as hell really.

Deco just dropping in the interview that Yuno's story is about the relationships between men and women too and not just a fucking baby, pfft-

Q.08 Which prisoners are the most fun to write dialogue/music for?

DECO: Mahiru! From the start writing about the relationships between men and women has been what you might call my forte, its enjoyable to make. I feel like this is also why I find Yuno easy to write for.

Just came out and said that shit. Yes, I made Deco's color orange because of this.

Q.18 Give a brief comment about the future of “MILGRAM”.

Yamanaka: There have already been plot developments that I personally wish I didn’t have to write. The guards have all chosen a very intense path. It’s frightening. I’ve also been ready to obey these choices since the start of MILGRAM, so I think we all should enjoy this story that can only be told once together.

I think the dichotomy between Yamanaka and Deco answers here is funny.

Yamanaka; there are some thing I wish I didn't have to write,

But I've been ready to follow through on these choices since the beginning.

DECO: I’ve already started writing the prisoner’s songs. It’s hell. Please prepare yourselves.

Deco, "It's hell~ < 3 Please, prepare yourselves."

Fucking pick a god and pray as quote. That only makes me go don't threaten me with a good time- things are just getting interesting- Let's overheat in hell together. Meanwhile as a writer reading there are things I've written that I haven't wanted to is such an oof I'm sorry I get the feeling but it's really fun to watch. It's really something great.

Funniest team of all time-

Q.17 Represent “MILGRAM” in one word. Yamanaka: 『人』 “People”

DECO: 『噓』 “Lies”

I hope whatever Milgram turns into it's remains as enjoyable to make as it is to watch. Despite every up and down. Still it was funny as fuck that Yamanaka really went yeah there's never not noise in that guys head.

I'm looking forward to seeing what this hell looks like. Me when all the prisoners turn out to be horrid liars that have committed a pile of atrocities,

"Damn that foreshadowing was tight and followed up on amazingly. Keep it up please! I want to feel satisfied don't lose steam in the last half!"

I hope it gives that feeling to a lot of people.

[minijenn]

More Stuff I wrote for UF (I might have some problems XD)

As the guy who originally suggested the Nevers (https://www.tumblr.com/minijenn/759074819835838464/if-you-needed-a-new-name-for-the-chapter-you?source=share) , and was reminded by anon, I couldn’t help writing more deep synopsis about them. Sorry, my mind couldn’t stop thinking about it. 

  Never Together: Steven is sure that the key to his future is a marriage with Connie. Living with the person he loves the most 24/7 at college seems to be what will fill the hole he has inside. Dipper, Mabel and Pacifica, however, to no avail, try their best to avoid a catastrophe. 

  The chapter ends with him saying to the air “I guess we will never be together” as he shed a final tear…

  Never Forever: Steven is quite depressed from being rejected by Connie, but, no need to fear, Mabel (who has quite a few experiences with breakups, heartbreaks and being rejected) organizes a fun day for only her and Steven, trying to show him that he is still the same Steven and they can do the same fun stuff they did as a child. However, at the end of the chapter, Mabel needs to finish things off a little earlier, because of art school. She warns Steven, thinking it’s no big deal, but… it triggers something in him. He starts to walk away sadly and Mabel asks him what’s wrong. And he says “I guess things never stay the same forever”. Mabel notices she messed up and offers fusing into Maven to patch things up, but Steven rejects. 

  Never Alone: Dipper also tries to reach out for Steven. But since Dipper is Dipper, he isn’t as direct as Mabel. Instead, he invites Steven to a Mystery Hunt. Things seem to be okay, and Steven seems relaxed, since he is busy thinking in other stuff. However, in the middle of a battle, they form Stepper, and, although they defeat the monster, Stepper starts to swell and glow pink due to fusion hallucinations having to do with Steven’s traumas (RMD, Weirdmageddon, getting his gem removed by White Diamond…). They unfuse and Steven starts to have a panic attack. Dipper manages to calm him down… partially, and Steven screams: “Maybe your trauma let you go. The same for Connie and Mabel. But for me? It seems like he will never leave me alone”. Dipper tries to reach out for him, but with no success. 

  Then, on growing pains, Steven is a lot more unstable than in canon, swelling a lot more, destroying things and so on…

----

Ohhhh these are all interesting ideas! Really like Never Forever tbh it sounds like it starts off so soft and sweet only for Sadness to kick right the hell in at the end, just like how Together Forever in original UF was lol 

[axel-skz]

Surpriise 🥳

A/N: I’m starting maybe an hour after my last fic… I don’t know how long this will take me to write but I’m impressed with how fast I managed to think something up lol. You might not be because the quality is meh |||| I’m going to try to make this more lighthearted… idk if future me will carry that sentiment but lets hope she does… goodluck 💀 Song shuffle on this and we got my universe :)))

Summary: Changbin had been busy with his tour and away from you for too long so you plan to surprise him.

Changbin x gender neutral reader

Changbin had been on tour for 2 months now. It was so difficult for both of you to deal with. What he didn’t know though, was that you had a surprise visit planned. All the guys were in on it.

They had been texting you non stop about how changbin had been pouting constantly, scrolling through pictures of you and complaining about how lonely he was. It felt like there was a thunder cloud hovering over him and anytime he smiled it was for a show or because you called.

You were packing your stuff as you got a call from him. You panicked for unknown reasons because unless you pointed your camera, specificaly at your suitcase, your room looked exactly the same.

You picked up the video call, ‘HEYYYY! YOU TOOK A WHOLE 5 RINGS TO PICK UP!! WHY?! HAVE I BEEN GONE TOO LONG? DO YOU NOT LOVE ME ANYMORE!?’ He threw out his wild theories and you couldn’t help but laugh.

‘It’s only been 2 months. Don’t worry, I still have faint memories of us together. Although… I think they’re fading…who are you?’ You said seriously and he gasped.

‘I KNEW IT! I’m gonna die alone oh my god…’

‘I’m the one losing memories, god, way to make your tour all about you.” You laughed.

He squinted at you, ‘you’re mean.’

‘I’m also one of your favourite people in the world. Did you call just to list off traits of mine?’

‘No. I miss you and your ungrateful ass,’ he pouted as he flopped back on his bed.

‘Don’t talk bad about my ass. It’s right there,’ you were walking out of your room when you tripped over your bag.

Good one, smart stuff.

It peaked his interest, ‘you good? What did you trip over?’

‘Oh no, I’m ok, I’m just unable to walk,’ you said in a hurry.

He got worried, ‘did you hurt yourself?’

‘NO! I just mean… I haven’t been doing much so I… forgot…’

Yeah, you’re so good at this. He’ll totally believe that. 🙄

‘You… forgot…how to walk..??’

‘Yeah, your face is so distracting and everything over the top of everything… My brain just couldn’t fathom anything else.’

This seemed to distract him and you guys talked about what had been going on recently. You managed to not fall face first somewhere after that and everything went well.

Your flight was 3 days later and you were so excited. You had told the guys to make sure changbin was distracted so he didn’t text or call you. The poor baby would think you were ignoring him.

When you landed, you rested up at the hotel you would be at temporary before their next concert. Your plan was to appear in the audience and he would look so surprised to see you. Then you would duck and make him think he imagined it.

It was mean but you would appear backstage so… no harm no foul.

Everything was going to plan and now you had seungmin walking you to a safe place to get some food before you went to the floor.

You met them all except changbin and it was so refreshing. You were just aching to hug changbin again. Although your wish came true when he walked past the room. He looked in, saw you and carried on walking because obviously he wasn’t expecting you to be there.

Jisung pushed you behind the sofa and sat in your place.

Changbin came charging back in, ‘Y/N???’

‘All these years together and I thought you knew my name,’ jisung fake cried. ‘After everything we’ve been through.’

Jeongin laughed, ‘he’s hallucinating again. God, you really can’t be away from them, can you?’

‘Codependency be like,’ hyunjin tacked on with a giggle.

Changbin sighed and side eyed the members as he left the room. ‘I’m not codependent… I just love them a lot. All your single, lonely asses can’t talk,’ he mumbled with a pout.

When he was definitely gone, Chan let you know the coast was clear. You stepped out with laughs, ‘shots fired! Damn.’

Hyunjin scowled at you, ‘Y/N shut up or so help me, I’ll call him back.’

You immediately stopped smiling and sobered up. You were about to say something but then you pretended to zip your mouth shut and gave him an overly big smile.

You spent a little more time eating then moved to go to the floor. With their help obviously, you didn’t want to accidentally run into changbin.

You were having fun, all the songs on this album were SO good. You made eye contact with changbin then he looked away but he looked back, frantically scanning the audience. You had ducked and he couldn’t find you again, he blinked a bunch, took a breath and moved away from that area.

You did this 2 more times and every time, he looked more and more confused. When the concert ended, you made your way to the security guard who would help you get backstage. It took you a little while to sift through the crowd but eventually, you made it.

As you got closer to their changing rooms, you could hear changbin talking.

‘I have no idea what’s wrong with me. I thought it was a wierd moment before but now… I actually keep seeing them everywhere. Like I could’ve sworn they were in the audience,’ you could hear him sniffling, ‘I wish I could go home… atleast for a bit.’

You knocked on the door and he opened the door. His jaw dropped as he stood there, staring at you.

‘Mail for a… ‘Changbin’? We have a package for a ‘Seo Changbin’,’ you said casually.

He turned and looked at everyone else, ‘you’re seeing this too right? They’re here? I’m not about to hug a mail man to death?’

Everyone laughed and yelled surprise. He turned around so fast and within a second, you were in a soul crushing hug.

‘I missed you too baby but I do need my ribs after this so…’ you wheezed as you lightly hugged him back. He loosened the hug with a quiet sorry.

After you had all calmed down, everyone laughed at how absolutely confused changbin looked on stage. He also apologised for calling them all lonely asses when jeongin reminded him.

It was a good day. You spent the next 2 weeks with them and loved every moment of it.

A/N: I hope this makes up for me making some of you cry in the first fic LMAO I wanted to add so much angst to this but I’ll let this be. You can all be distraught on the next one 😈 I’m really showcasing my dry sense of humour in this one 💀

[I’ve tried to look over it but if there’s anything that isn’t gender neutral about the reader, lemme know and I’ll fix it]

[fandomfluffandfuck]

1940's just-serumed-Steve with his hair trigger is transported to post-engame (where Steve came home and is living happily with Bucky.) Steve-and-Bucky's home, and it doesn't take long for Bucky to realize he's got his wonderful Sub in the two best states he's ever been. With a hair trigger, and always hard and ready to go, and well trained, with his hypnosis triggers (soft, hard, cum on command) and he can't resist the idea of getting to play with them both at the same time. -🐍

related to this, and this

This is trouble 😏 Double trouble. Literally.

With this in mind, I immediately had one idea that I will gladly expound upon:

40s Steve is still unaware of his own strength and nervous about breaking anything. He's also generally nervous about, well, everything. He wants to touch, but he doesn't know how anymore. Second guessing everything. He's desperate to get off, but once he starts, he can't stop--literally, he can't stop himself. He'll jerk himself raw. Until he's run out of semen, cumming dry, and is crying. Yet, he can't stop! It hurts, but the itch is still there. It never goes away now.

Bucky has an idea of how to calm younger Steve...

And younger Steve--still a little unsure that he's not having some serum side effect, some hallucination or something caused by whatever it was that was injected into him--goes along with it very willingly. Offering himself up for whatever they ]meaning the older version of himself, yeah, what, and an older Bucky with a prosthetic arm] might want to do with him.

Bucky wants to use some of the custom restraints they've had made in the future on him. Silky feeling black rope with vibranium weaved into it so Steve can't rip out of it like paper and a spreader bar with vibranium in the leather and the metal, preventing any tearing or bending when it's in position.

Younger Steve moves like a doll, easily going along with it all, eyes open wide to take everything in yet turned dark by his interest. He's naked. Fully naked. Exposed to two sets of eyes. Familiar and new at the same time.

First, Bucky situates younger Steve. He places him by the end of the bed, placing his hands behind his back and folding his legs up underneath him. Behind his back, he ties his wrists together, making cuffs from the rope, and then has him hold onto the wooden footboard; he can lean back on it for support if he likes. He doesn't have to stay straight up--he just has to keep watching. His legs get tied, too. Thighs to ankles. Then, the spreader bar is adjusted and placed between his thighs, keeping them wide, wide open.

After he's all dolled up and situated just so, Bucky turns his attention to his Steve. Current Steve.

Steve that can operate on whatever command Bucky wishes. Hard. Soft. Cum.

Anything.

Bucky puts his Steve against the high headboard, facing the younger version of himself at the foot of the bed. He doesn't bother tying his Steve up at all. He'll be good without restraints. Off to his left side, Bucky places himself. That way, he knows freshly serumed Steve will have the best angle of the show.

He'll see every pornographic detail.

Then--

Young Steve is forced to sit and watch and pant and drool and gape, unbelieving, as Bucky plays modern Steve like a damn instrument.

Bucky commands modern Steve to be hard, and his body obeys despite just moments before, only having been halfway there. He throbs. Entirely hard.

Younger Steve was already fully there, just the setup is enough to give him a stiffy--and an aching one at that. He's nowhere near as controlled or as well-fucked as his older self.

Bucky toys with his Steve for the benefit of their guest. Younger Steve. He just wants to show him his future. The future where his body is at beckon and call of Bucky and only Bucky. Is that a crime?

Bucky toys with him. Jerking his Steve off until he's on edge, about to spill over his knuckles--his peak hard, hot, and satisfying--only to tell him he can't. Each and every time, Steve whimpers through the quakes of denial. But, it felt so good! He just--he wants to cum! Why does it have to stop!?

Bucky doesn't reveal the show stopper just yet, so instead of forcing Steve to go soft, he tells him, inarguable, to hold off. Not yet. He can't cum yet. Why? Because he said so. Steve's body listens to Bucky.

Just when Bucky knows he's no longer in danger of shooting off--on razor's edge--he goes back to it mercilessly.

Jerking him off. Not yet. Jerking him off. Not yet. Jerking him off.

Not yet.

Within just a few rotations of cruel denial, Steve is wet enough to make obscene sounds. Leaking. Dribbling. Slippery in Bucky's tight, unforgiving grasp. The silver metal of his hand glints just that little bit more in the low lighting of their bedroom. All of Steve's overflowing pre-cum is dripping down his thick fingers to his palm, even farther, too, to his wrist. Steve cries out, begging for permission to cum.

Not yet.

While his Steve's is fighting to gather his breath, Bucky shoves his metal fingers into his mouth. His mouth might be just as slick as his cock with how he's begun to drool. Bitten, swollen lips unable to stay shut and keep all his excess spit in his mouth where it belongs.

He slurps at Bucky's fingers.

Oh, fuck.

Steve, young Steve, pulls at his restraints so hard that he feels it through his whole body. His muscles are straining. He wants.

He's not--

He doesn't know what those metal fingers taste like, but he wants to. More than anything, he wants to know if they have a metallic tang. He wants to know how they taste without traces of himself (?) and with. Metallic and briny. Erotic, flexing with a mechanical whirring. Shoving deep into his throat until he chokes.

Gags.

He wants to drool as a result of those fingers working him over, too.

Young Steve makes a noise he's never heard come out of himself. A sound he didn't know he could make.

Please.

He feels desperate. Left out in a way that's not lonely (and not really true) but is devasting. He wants a taste! He wants a turn to be edged, even if it probably hurts like hell. He can tell from how his older self's cock has gone so, so red at the tip that it's practically purple.

Hell.

He's so hard.

Younger Steve watches the way his poor, tortured cock flexes as he's denied. Twitching.

"Don't hurt yourself over there, sweetheart," Bucky smiles filthily at him, referring to how he's kept squirming, tugging and straining.

It would feel like heaven just to be able to press his thighs together and get any pressure on his dick. Any friction. Anything.

He wants.

Please.

Younger Steve hoarsely moans while his counterpart fights the pleasure of having his cock stroked even more, groaning, twisting around. Much more free to move than young Steve. Unfair. He's sputtering as if he's trying to find the words to beg for his orgasm but he can't.

Not yet.

Bucky leaves Steve's heavy, throbbing cock alone for a few turns, turning his devilish attention to the hard points of Steve's nipples. Flicking them. Making him jolt. Pinching them. Making him keen. Twisting them. Making him cry out and arch away from the sensation. The sweet torture.

Not yet.

Younger Steve can practically feel the heat radiating off of Bucky's Steve. It's so thick in the air. Palpable.

Still, Steve gets even wetter. His cock throbs with his drum-beat pulse.

Younger Steve can see it from across the bed--a big, fat pearl of pre-cum beading up at the slit of his dick and rolling down his thick, veined shaft with a violent twitch. He sinks his teeth into his lower lip. The taste of copper floods his mouth.

"Please-!"

Young Steve doesn't even know which one of them it comes out of. Himself? Older Steve? Both of them? At once, connected in denial?

"Please, what?" Bucky taunts, getting high off of this, "please let you get off?" His Steve whimpers urgently. "Nu-uh," he sasses, "there's no way I'm letting you, baby, I haven't gotten mine yet!"

Younger Steve can hardly breathe. They're hypnotic together. The chemistry is explosive. Dangerous.

"You wanna help me get mine? Then, maybe, if you help me, I'll think about letting you get yours..."

Bucky's Steve nods so urgently, so frantically that it'd be funny if younger Steve weren't breathing the same humid, intoxicating air.

It just keeps getting hotter.

"Okay, okay, fine--" even Bucky isn't immune to it.

Cutting loose, Bucky preps himself. Quickly and efficiently, no longer willing to wait. Opening himself up with his slick metal fingers, Bucky both uses some lube and moslty the obscene amount of wetness that's spilled from his Steve. He preens in their undivided attention. The past and present Steve. The loves of his life. Moaning, rolling his hips filthily--Bucky is poetry in motion.

Younger Steve continues to be unable to breathe. He has no idea how he's still surviving. He's dying.

He's dying.

Because Bucky suddenly throws a leg over his Steve's lap. Straddling him. Not yet sitting, instead hovering, teasing, so, so close to where they all want him to be.

He leans forward, he whispers, just loud enough for younger Steve to hear as he orders his Steve to go soft. With Bucky hovering above his lap just enough--

Younger Steve gets to watch older Steve's erection wilt.

He goes soft.

Like it's nothing.

Again, on the same elective wavelength, both Steves sob.

The hotness melts Steve entirely. How can he do anything but succumb to this moment, lost in this real-life fantasy? Better than porn. This is...

It's unbelievable.

There isn't a word for how fucking outrageously erotic this is. Watching.

Only able to look, not to touch because truly, for the first time since he got the serum, he is unable to move.

"Now, baby," Bucky scolds his Steve, pulling back from marking up his vulnerable throat with a gorgeous, terrifying grin on his face, "how am I supposed to have mine when you can't keep it up?"

Young Steve can feel the whine that is kicked out of the other Steve's chest, it's so intense.

Fuck.

Hanging by a thread.

Steve is hanging by a thread. The tiniest little thread.

"How am I supposed to ever let you cum? You can't get me there. So, why should I get you there?" As he says it, he's evil--he's evilly grinding his own hard dick and wet, open hole against his Steve's still soft cock. Torturing him. Fucking torturing him. Look at what you can't have. Feel what you can't have.

Steve whimpers like... like he's dying.

And Younger Steve supposes he is. He knows he's dying, and he hasn't even been touched. He hasn't even been commanded to go soft! Fuck, he can't imagine what that does to a fella's brain. It must destroy it. It must feel like fucking insanity. Oh, God. It hits Steve like a tsunami. Oh, God, he's gonna feel that. One day, that'll be him! Oh, fuck, he's going to let his Bucky do that to him. He's gonna. He's gonna and it's--

Why does he want it so bad?

It sounds like it must hurt so much, and yet...

Younger Steve is drooling thinking about it.

Please.

It's on the tip of his tongue to beg for Bucky to do to him whatever he did to his Steve. Now. He wants to be like that now. He wants his future now.

Please. Please. Please.

Younger Steve's desperate, urgent, fucking dire needs are stripped away from him in a single moment when Bucky suddenly turns his irresistible grin on him. Not on his Steve.

Oh.

His stomach flips, already tied in impossible knots. Despite the forest fire inside him, he is frozen in place under that branding stare.

He's chuckling at him.

What?

What?

Oh.

Without even realizing it, Steve has shattered the solid wood in his hands where they're restrained behind his back. Fuck, this new strength--

He can't--

He can't control himself.

And he just proves to himself that he really, really, really can't control himself when, in a few short minutes that actually feel like decades, Bucky orders his Steve to get hard again and he does. And Bucky slides down onto his hard cock. Unbothered. Letting out on long, low moan. Stuffed full. Breathlessly commanding Steve not to cum. His Steve clings to him. But he listens. And, and, and--

God.

The idea of that happening to himself--to younger Steve at any fucking point in his fucking life is so fucking delicious that his orgasm takes his knees out from under him. He fights his bonds, eyes rolling to the back of his head, his ears ringing, his whole nervous system whiting out. Burning unbearably hot. Overtaking him.

Please.

Let that be him, please.

In conclusion:

[sepublic]

Acknowledging that I may be missing the point by trying to figure out the in-universe explanation and logistics, rather than focusing on the metaphor and symbolism behind Emesis Blue;

I think the Plague Doctor might be Fritz Ludwig from the future, possessed and/or under control of his alter ego (Hence the uncharacteristic act). There’s the obvious fact that Jeremy treats Fritz with hostility and fear, and Fritz’s own hallucination of killing Jeremy’s mom. He has the gouged-out eyes and smile, which Fritz receives at the end of the film after crashing.

At the end of the film, Fritz is brought back in the respawn machine, amidst a bunch of fire. In Archibald’s PSA to newly-respawned mercenaries, there’s an inexplicable fire that enters the room just offscreen, so I think there’s a deliberate connection. The only other possibility is that Fritz respawns as the Conagher Slaughterhouse burns down near the end of the movie (note that this would require someone to perform the manual input on the respawn machine, possibly the Plague Doctor). The abrupt fire at the end of the PSA feels too deliberate of a detail to otherwise ignore. Note that right after the video ends with fire, we cut to some photos taken presumably around that time, including of a burning Fritz…

Likewise, we have an example of time travel being an actual thing, and not just a Diazepam-induced hallucination (note Soldier claiming to have never taken any of the pills, only to later interact with his future self). This would explain how Fritz is in two places at once, which he needs to be, given we see him drive past Soldier in his ambulance, followed by the Plague Doctor’s hearse arriving just moments afterwards.

Now Fritz normally would have no reason to kill Jeremy’s mom, but that’s assuming it’s him in control; More than likely, it’s his alter-ego. Now I’ve watched TheWhat Show’s video on Emesis Blue, so I’m inspired by a lot of what he suggested here. But if we go with the idea that Fritz is being possessed by the spirit of the Tenth Class, this may explain a bit...

Dell’s Bar seems to be the limbo, the purgatory, the waiting room that the mercs and others who go through respawn wait in. And we know the respawn machine creates a fresh duplicate of one’s body, meaning respawned mercenaries can interact with their previous corpses; Hence the motherload of identical dead bodies all over the place. 

There’s also the hallucination Fritz has, where he’s trapped in a casket inside the church, while the Plague Doctor watches; Foreshadowing both the church he kills Pyro in, and later his own funeral assassination. But it could also symbolize Fritz’s mind/soul being locked away in his body, or perhaps in a briefcase/limbo, while the Plague Doctor takes over...

If we go by the theory that the Plague Doctor is the vengeful ghost of the Tenth Class who has possessed Fritz, I think things begin to come together. After crashing at the end of Emesis Blue, Fritz’s soul is stuck in limbo, awaiting his next respawn. Due to time loop shenanigans, he is respawned in the past as Archibald records his PSA, possibly with only the Tenth Class’ soul inside; Fritz’s soul may have been left behind in limbo, which may be located within the briefcase. Either way, the Tenth Class in total control now.

The fire is an interesting detail; Did the respawn machine malfunction? And this malfunction caused both the flame and the retrieval of future Fritz, instead of his current self? Or maybe, and this is a bit out there but I just want to say it; Maybe the Tenth Class’ soul was plucked straight from Hell, and in doing so brought some hellfire with him that burned the Conagher Slaughterhouse, the first time. We see an apparition of the Tenth Class when Soldier is about to jump over the chasm leading to ‘Hell’, after all; Maybe the Tenth Class went there.

Something I find interesting is that the Plague Doctor seems to be working with BLU Heavy, Pyro, and Zed and Maynard Conagher. Somebody else was holding up Mama Scout’s head when Pyro kidnapped Jeremy, and it appears BLU Heavy was supposed to pass the briefcase to the Plague Doctor near the start of the film. The Plague Doctor’s hearse is a convenient vehicle to transport BLU Heavy’s body to the Conagher Slaughterhouse, to later be revived by RED Medic into a Mr. X reference.

We know Maynard was the one to lock up Jeremy, “according to specification” as he tells Zed. And the Plague Doctor’s hearse is seen right outside the Conagher Slaughterhouse, burning just as its driver did when he first arrived in the past... Obviously the Plague Doctor isn’t being totally honest with the Conagher brothers, since he presumably gave the key to Jeremy’s casket to Fritz; Zed is confused as to how Jeremy escaped.

If the Plague Doctor is a possessed/evil Fritz from the future, that could explain how he has the key; That, or there's a second copy of the same key that Zed and Maynard don’t know about. Maybe there’s only one key and they threw it out, only for the Plague Doctor to retrieve it behind their backs... OR, Fritz held onto the key after freeing Jeremy, bringing it with him all the way to the film’s end; So when he respawns in the past, he has the key with him. And he slides it under his past self’s door near the start of the film.

What puzzles me is what the Plague Doctor’s goal and motive is; Did the Emesis Diazepam lead to memory loss, meaning he doesn’t realize he’s reliving the same events, just from a different role? Is he trying to end the cycle? Set up Soldier to arrive at the Conagher Slaughterhouse, learn the truth, and kill Redmond and Blutarch, breaking free? How did he convince BLU Heavy, Pyro, the Conagher brothers, and presumably RED Sniper into working with him? Is Archibald aware of and working with these guys? Being led to believe they’re helping him lay low, when in reality he’s just bait for Fritz, BLU Soldier, and BLU Spy? 

RED Sniper asks Soldier if he wants to die for something worth dying for, after deriding Archibald; Indicating he’s knowingly a part of some plan to end the Gravel Wars. But why try to kill Soldier at the start? Was that just Plan A, and Plan B was to inspire him to end it? Is BLU Heavy even collaborating with the others after being revived, or has his undead state turned him into an uncontrollable monster on nobody’s side? 

[kadextra]

another orv longpost is here 🕺

(again huge spoilers for the novel don’t click if you haven’t read)

since my last one of these, I have completed reading the demon realm revolutionary arc >:D

now lets get some miscellaneous thoughts out of the way before I go into analysis

THAT SCENE FROM AGES AGO WHICH I BARELY REMEMBERED FINALLY REVEALED ITS PURPOSE!!! MY JAW DROPPED. thank goodness fatherhood has made han myungoh way more likeable 🎉 he’s so soft & doting about his daughter <3 I want their little family to reunite go away asmodeus…

b i y o o.

I have noticed that the author loves to use the phrase “cold water poured over [the mood]” and that’s sooo accurate cause I felt exactly this way when dokja opened the 1st revision of TWSA and found it became an account of events influenced by his involvement in the story & is set after his future death. chills.

when dokja was legit about to die after destroying the demon duke guy in the big factory monster my heart was racing too. then joonghyuk came with the save last second :’D

the part where he described his senses after re-entering the scenario, the story embracing him, changing his breathing to feel alive again, and how that frightened him. ohh my god…..

also neat to see how the fourth wall helps practically too :D like when dokja was all mentally scattered and couldn’t think straight it helped by putting the pieces he already knew together for him

-

now onto some analysis dissecting dokja’s behavior :))

multiple times I’ve read how he hears a shocking thing and instantly goes like “I thought it was an auditory hallucination.” his first reaction to unbelievable stuff is believing that it’s not real. his power literally disassociates him it makes complete sense to react this way, good detail

it’s cool how he will be like ‘I think this’ then the fourth wall goes [Kim Dokja is thinking this]. sometimes it’s a helpful expansion of those original thoughts, or vice versa with dokja continuing off what the fourth wall says first

but it can be that the two lines of thought presented aren’t alike!! so I have had to read deeper into what he’s really thinking/feeling :D

through that, it is becoming way clearer to me in this story how some things dokja says & does are contradictory with what he himself narrates. it’s something that needs my closer attention while reading bc otherwise I could get fooled, he’s an unreliable narrator

sometimes he feigns disinterest when all signs in the dialogue point to him being emotional, or he puts on a confident narration but then the fourth wall or his actions exposes insecurity. sometimes he straight up has no idea why he’s acting certain ways -which I try piecing together- and occasionally he fights with himself too

these lines show that stuff pretty well

It was a reckless battle. It was uncharacteristic of me and I didn’t know why I acted like that.

No, don’t think like this. Kim Dokja, please wake up. You’ve survived so far thanks to this novel.

I wanted to ask why he came here. I wanted to ask what he would do in the future. However, completely different words emerged from my mouth.

I smiled slightly while covering my eyes with both hands. I didn’t appear so on the surface, but I wanted to say that I was smiling.

he was absolutely crying in the last one I know it

not my first rodeo with unreliable characters I love them <3

lastly, dokja was more desperate in this arc than I’ve ever seen him before. I saw how he started to get more troubled as it went on, but ofc the constant painful disintegration didn’t help 💀 the 1st revision.txt is useful with figuring out what to do but it’s sorta vague, he’s still anxious

that’s why I LOVED the writing on the wall conversation with jang hayoung.

it delved into those stresses and had him trying to think of a way to move forward. probably one of my most favorite discussions in the story thus far

I had to write something on this wall. This is despite the fact that it might change what has already been written…

I didn’t want to be a person who only read.

I had been acting as a reader the whole time. In order to see the ending I wanted, I had to create a new story. In fact I had already warped reality.. I just didn’t know yet who would read it.

👏🔥👏💯🔥👏💯🔥👏

a person who doesn’t just read, but writes too… so curious to see what he does now especially since he doesn’t have multiple lives to mess with

wow long ramble but I love love deep diving into stuff I can’t wait to see more cool things as I go on <3

if you wanna see my other rambles about orv check my tag #kade reads

[terrence-silver]

What do you think ponytail calling out terry and kreese for there actions and there actions towards each other would be like? Like a future thing where they see him while both having therapy or maybe like they see him in there dreams

We have no clue what type of person the actual Ponytail even was or what his morality was even like, least of all, if he'd disapprove of anything John and Terry did over the years, and I jot this down to the show simply not focusing on the matter long enough for me to be able to give any concrete answers. 🤷‍♀️

But, if he ever showed up as some sort of hallucinogenic ghost-vision-dream-nightmare to either of his old friends (in the vein of a young Johnny Lawrence during Kreese's therapy session) I feel both Terry and John would have entirely different perspectives of him because the way they'd see him would be from very personal point of views --- which means they could very well both be unreliable narrators on what manner of person Ponytail was. Validly, I can imagine John seeing him as one of the many people he's lost. Time being frozen. Ponytail not having changed at all. He still talks like an army kid. Has the concerns of an army kid. Asks if he's gotten any new letters or pictures from his sweetheart, Betsy, he can see. Teases John the way he used to tease him. He addresses John like they're both still young, even though John very well could be in his seventies ---- and when they talk of Terry, they talk as if no time passed at all --- John might just envision Ponytail asking him if Twig's still scrawny or if he gained some muscle mass at all; topics they'd very well have forty years in the past. Could very well still be the 1960's instead of 2020-something from the way they interact. Like nothing's changed at all. After all, John Kreese hallucinated Johnny Lawrence as a teen and he likewise hallucinated Betsy as a young girl too, so this is very on-brand for him. He keeps returning to the past. Past losses. Past loves. Past grudges. Past failures. Past triumphs. Stands to reason Ponytail is stuck in the limbo of his memory too. When he calls out John Kreese over the fact he and Terry fell out? It would resemble a friend calling out the disintegration of a group of companions in any age group between 17. and 19. year old. Almost resembles class room drama. Almost.

'Aw, Johnny, what do you mean you two don't talk!? How will he survive without us!? You know Captain Turner's giving him a hard time!'

'Who's table is he gonna have lunch at in the mess hall? Shit, John, they're gonna eat him alive. I mean, he's like a paper stick figure. A stronger gust of wind --- and away he goes! He needs us.'

As for Terry, this is nowhere confirmed or denied, but it would something straight out of a horror movie if he's so entirely blended with the identity of Ponytail that when he hallucinates him, he just hallucinates himself. It's like watching his own mirror image appear before him. He's talking to himself. That is him.

[impossiblefangirl0632]

Home

This is very dumb but I went through the effort of minimally editing this thing so might as well post it.

Presenting a silly oneshot where TBTK Bruno gets to reunite with his sisters. Only there's one small problem. They're not his sisters, and their version of him has been missing for nine years. He might as well do something about that while he's there.

This didn't make any sense.  First everyone in this town seemed to automatically be wary of him. Then he heard them muttering his real name under his breath and now—

Now he was in the middle of a hug with Julieta and Pepa and it didn't make any sense. They were sobbing demanding where he'd been, demanding to know why he left

Was he hallucinating? He wasn't dead, he knew that. He had to be hallucinating. Right?

“Bruno!”

At last he finally choked out the first thing that came to mind, ignoring their own questions. “How are you here? You were both — I don't understand — how is this possible?” 

“What Bruno? Of course we're here, where else would we be besides the Encanto? Where have you been, it's been nine years! We thought you—”

He pulled back abruptly. “What? No, this isn't the Encanto. Have you lost your mind? This is nothing like home! Or at least… I don't think it is. I can't really remember that much about what it looked like, it's been too long but it was definitely bigger than this valley. And what do you mean 9 years it's been centuries. What happened? How did you escape?”

Julieta’s eyebrows were furrowed in concern. "You're not making any sense, let's get you out of the sun and back to Casita then I'm sure we can talk everything out."

 "For the record I am still furious at you for leaving," Pepa huffed, "But I'm just happy you're back. You have good timing. Mirabel's quince is in a week."

"Her what?"

"Her quinceñera? You know? That really important moment in a teenage girl's life that you missed for our other daughters?"

"I know what a quinceñera is! What I don't know is how you know what it is. …or how you're speaking Spanish."

He took another step back, that little bit of hope that this was real was shattering into a million pieces. "This isn't real. Of course it's not real Bruno, it's been 400 years. Why would you suddenly find your sisters in some random mountain village…"

"Oye! Madrigal!" Suddenly a woman with braids was in his face brandishing a sandal. You've got some nerve showing up here again after you killed my goldfish!" As an afterthought "and after you abandoned your family."

Bruno snatched the sandal and tossed it to the side. "I did not abandon my family. Failed them? Yes. Abandoned them? No. Also I've killed a lot of things but never a goldfish." 

"What?! You dare—"

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look I have no idea who you are and I'm trying to figure out if I've finally cracked or if there's something else going on so please leave."

Julieta and Pepa stared slack-jawed at the interaction between Pezmuerto and the man who looked like their timid brother but acted nothing like him. Pezmuerto stormed off and he began pacing, mumbling to himself about being too old for this, going insane a century ago, and family members trapped as statues.

Hesitantly Julieta reached out and tapped him on the shoulder. "I think, maybe it'd be best to try and figure this out at Casita."

:::

“Tell me if I’ve got this straight. Your name is Bruno Madrigal but you’re not our Bruno Madrigal because your version of our family was turned to stone before the Spanish even got to South America and the man who did that cursed you to be immortal.” 

“Almost, you’re forgetting I sent the kids to the future. They’ll show up eventually and then we’re going to try to break the curse on the others.”

“Right, how could I forget that part?” Julieta sounded as tired as Bruno felt

“And for your family, Pedro was murdered trying to protect Alma and you three and that created the miracle?”

Pepa bit the inside of her cheek. “Don’t let Mama hear you say that but yes that is one way to put it.”

“So what happened to your Bruno?”

Pepa and Julieta both looked towards the family tree painted on the wall. “We don’t…usually talk about him anymore. But given the circumstances…”

Julieta sighed, “We don’t know. We couldn’t find him the day after Mirabel didn’t get a gift. That day turned into a week then a month and now it’s been ten years since we last saw him. Mama says he must have left the valley but—”

“You have to be a skilled mountain climber to get out of the valley and our Bruno definitely wasn’t one of them.” Pepa’s voice dropped to a whisper. “His door went dark, his room fell apart— Mama may insist he’s alive but…”

“You think he’s dead.”

They both nodded silently as Pepa’s cloud started to drizzle. 

Bruno stood. These may not be his sisters but they clearly were versions of them and he wasn’t going to sit around while a version of him was off somewhere causing them pain. “If I find out he is dead, do you want to know?”

They looked at him sharply. “What?”

“How are you supposed to find him when we haven’t been able to for a decade?”

Oh right he hadn’t told them that part. “I guess now would be a good time to mention I can do a lot more than just see the future.”

:::

After getting something of Bruno’s from his room (he felt a smidge more sympathy for the other Bruno after seeing the huge amount of stairs to the vision cave. If they shared a fear of heights that must have been horrible) he had gone deeper into the jungle to perform the seeking spell away from prying eyes. Only for it to take him right back to Casita. 

Invisibly skirting around the family members proved physically easy— even if it was emotionally devastating. The spell led him to a painting on the second floor. A painting that had opened. 

Which was how he was now in the walls of Casita staring open mouthed at the other Bruno, curled up in a ball, asleep, in the corner of this dingy little room.

[ikamigami]

This episode had everything I wanted to see if Moon would find out about hallucinations!

Seriously. I'm not kidding. I wanted for Moon to act the way he did in today's episode. But at the time I was thinking about this type of scenario Moon still had his memories. So I couldn't imagine how it would be or if it worked with how Old Moon used to be. So I was scared of this.

But New Moon is 100x times better than Old Moon! @garbagechocolate you were right by believing in him.

I'm so glad! It makes me feel less anxious about Sun's future. Sure, he still will have hallucinations and it'll take a lot of time for him to heal.. but for the first time.. I'm not scared for how Sun's story will end.

Before I'll say more about this episode, I want to thank Davis and Reed for amazing work they're putting into this show. And I need to thank them for today's episode. Whenever I watch an episode of this show, I feel like they know how I feel or as if they knew me. This show is amazing! I can't express properly how much this show means to me.

Now, let's talk about what happened in today's episode. Sun has zero self preservation... which isn't surprising considering that he's suicidal.

Sun didn't want to talk about his issues even if Moon heard him talking to the air. Who could've thought? /s

Moon saying "of course it would affect me cause you're my brother" and trying to hug him was something I wanted to see for so long.

Sun was scared of Moon's reaction! My meme became reality (I'm impressed how quickly it was proved in the show though) 👀

Moon said that he'll help Sun rest and be with him in the worst 🥹 I love New Moon! Old Moon would probably act like a jerk "because he had it worse". 🙄

I'm curious if Sun will tell Moon about "the catalyst" thing 👀⁉️

And I would love for Sun to have hallucination of Lunar when Moon is with him! I think that would be epic!

I can't wait for what will happen next! Will tomorrow be a gaming video or maybe another lore episode? And then next will be July 16th!

But I'm curious what is Eclipse up to? Because I have a feeling that he might try to do something 🤔

Ah... I forgot about creator 🥱 He turned out to be the one who did that whole "ruin virus" thing 🙄 I hope that our boys will beat up this stupid floating brain-fart. I can't wait for the day when he'll die 😊

Anyway, I'm so glad that New Moon will help Sun and he and Earth will take good care of Sun!

[jenyifer]

Dead Friend Forever ep 12 initial reaction

It’s over am I happy? Not particularly. It is interesting though. Let’s go over it and then I’ll make my rating post for the whole series

Disclaimer upfront I get triggered by blood so I did watch some scenes with my hands covering the top of the scene so maybe I missed things.

Okay so let’s get into the ep

I find it interesting that Top, Jin, and Fluke all include their ‘friends’ in their hallucinations. While White, Phee, Tee are more self solo focused. I imagine if Por was alive his nightmare scenario would be group based because he wanted to be cool or if it was solo maybe it would be man he’s a really big asshole personality wise. Probably good he didn’t live to this last scene would have been redundant or abhorrent.

So Fluke was afraid of being bullied by Top and Tee. He never really felt a hundred percent with the group. I find it telling that Por and Non convince him to take his eyes out because people felt like he had no guilt for both of their deaths. Realistically if Fluke had stood up to Top and Tee when the camera got broken I do think because Fluke and Por were good friends Por might have believed Fluke over Top but maybe not. Por was an asshole. But him doing anything in the other scenes won’t have really helped. He didn’t have any power in the group dynamic. He wasn’t even particularly close to Jin the reason they both found non and the teacher was because they were in the same class.

I started to get suspicious we might be in dream sess for Top’s he’ll scape. 1 idk how he is still alive 2 he’s still very much on drugs anyways. Also the fear of being betrayed by his friends them not listening to him was an interesting motivation. We saying top was a people pleaser I guess? Idk I wanted more from his character. Did find it poetic he and Fluke offed each other when their fears were so routed in their friendships their bonds. Then that’s what threw them down the stairs.

Tee 😭😭😭😭 even in the nightmare trying to help Non over and over trying to give him hope. Trying to do all that he could. Trapped and trying his best. Shows that he deeply fundamentally didn’t want to be a bad guy. A caged animal tortured animal doesn’t run when you open the cage you have to show it the way out first. I think Tee was hoping seeing Non escape would mean he could go for his freedom too. I cried during his and White’s scene. Also how beautiful are they? I hope Tee survives

Once again I think something bad happened to White to make him feel like he’s dirty that he’s automatically a slut for making friends. Yes Tee gets jealous but I won’t say it’s abnormally so White puts that pressure on himself. He desperately wanted to be Tee’s above all else a very sweet motivator. I once again cried watching what happened. I’m glad Tan had second doubts about his death at least.

Jin stalker/unhealthy obsession? Idk it’s just what the TV imagery and the cell phones make me think of Because my mind goes to BTS Suga’s solo MV for Shadow. Jin’s certainly ashamed of what he did. He also had his friends in there saying he was scared they’d hate me. Very interesting. Jin is MAJORLY insecure. He values his perception and hates who he really is and the pleasure he desires. I was disappointed to see him still alive but then again if he had that injury I was curious if he would survive just based on blood loss to the hospital. Really really hated the visuals on that so… maybe I missed something

Found it heartbreaking that New’s Non was a good little brother. Ugh I can’t imagine losing my sister and this scene really hurts. That New has done all this shit but deep down he knows what New really felt about him and New’s scared he’s done the wrong thing.

Found it sus we see New die of a gut injury when the shot hit his shoulder. But was sweet that Non came back to thank him in his head. A good end although doubting it happened.

Wow Jin being the human one in this scene of the future. I guess he’d be an idealized version of Jin.

Uhhhhh yes? In that Tee would need to accept what happened and seek help. But also no? Phee showing his double standard here. Phee didn’t you just learn you would have been there for Non if you could? Well if Tee was suffering like that Phee you should visit him even if it’s hard it’d be his duty. Phee is partly responsible for what happened. Phee you can care about people you ain’t fucking and or their family members. It’s okay to have friends naturally and support them.

Season 2!!!! Big reveal? So how much of this ep was a dream?? Whole thing? From when new used the gas? I also wonder would New’s protections for himself actually work? Yes he has those cure smoke things but the nightmare stuff is still in everything. I would like it if maybe Non had survived and some how drugged them all? I don’t think he did but 9th person Mr Keng? Non? White? Steps in and all of this outcome has been Phee’s interpretation of the truth ep 12? Maybe idk. I can’t wait for season 2