#I will hate it if my theory/prediction turns out to be true

[l-in-the-light]

Trafalgar Law and closeness part 5: What is he actually so afraid of and his reasons

This will be a slightly different post from the others, much more speculation, but I will include all hints and foreshadowing I gathered (which means this is a long post yet again). I might be wrong ofc, but I'm like 80-90% sure I read the signs right. Just in case my theory will turn out correct, I reccommend that you think twice before reading any further, especially if you would prefer for Oda's manga to reveal it properly and not get spoilered about the twist thanks to some tumblr post, which is totally understandable. Those who are fearless like a true D and still want to read this theory, a fair warning: this will be sad af. More so than previous posts.

Let's start with a short summary of our previous observations: Law always acts cold, he will draw clear borders and keep people at a distance, because he can't deal with losing people again. That's his major fear. His secondary fear is his fear of touch, the result of his trauma. With both of these we saw him making really decent progress on, thanks to Luffy especially.

I traced Law's progress all the way from Sabaody up to Wano. We saw him completely refusing any bonds in Sabaody, but then he takes the first step towards Luffy. Instead of trying to get closer he proposes for them to be in alliance, hiding behind the impersonal relation (Luffy's not getting any of that btw. And in case you think Luffy did it on accident it's not entirely true: he knows the actual difference between friendship and alliance, he did a normal alliance with Bege in Whole Cake Island no problem, proving to us he's not that stupid). Then we see Law slowly opening up, holding back less of his natural reactions (like getting openly angry), all while fighting his trauma related to touch and helplessness. Let's dive into his psyche.

Law is a doctor, that identity is very important for him not just because of his parents.

When he's a doctor and operates on people, he knows he has to touch them to save their lives. That's probably also the reason why he calls all his attacks and devil fruit abilities per "operations". This way he can create an artificial boundary in his mind, when he's in his "doctor mode" the touch is impersonal and professional so he is able to actually operate on people. And seems this depersonalization/desensitization technique works! The only time we see him comfortable being in contact with people is when he cuts them down into pieces like for an operation. And of course he had to be alright with touch when he operated on Luffy and Jimbei as well.

Here we have to note one more thing about his devil fruit's use. In Sabaody and Punk Hazard he cuts people into pieces and rearranges them, creating "monstrous creatures". This seems to reflect what he thinks of those people, people who usually treat him like a monster because of his devil fruit abilities (that must be a pretty traumatic experience, because doctors also called him monster before just because he was sick). So he pays them back for it, rearranges their bodies, because for him they were the monsters. This way he takes back his own liberty, he shows them that if he's the monster then they are as well. That being said, he does take advantage of his "Surgeon of Death" title, because inciting fear in enemies is helpful when you're a pirate. But after meeting Strawhats who so easily disregard the bad rep Law has and spending enough time with them together, Law stops creating monsters with misaligned human limbs. Last time we saw them was in Punk Hazard. He doesn't need that anymore, because he feels accepted for who he is, regardless of what some random marines talk about him.

His devil fruit is interesting because it creates a space in which he can easily switch items and people's positions without having to touch them. And he can activate most attacks by simply moving his finger a little or making a simple gesture, so that even in case his trauma kicks in and he freezes, then as long as he can move at least one finger, he can shamble himself away to safety. Seems like devil fruit powers rely heavily on the mind of the user, their traumas and wishes deeply influence how the power actually works. I wonder how would it work if Law didn't have his fear of touching.

Summing it up, in Wano Law didn't get touch-triggered even once, so seems things were working out well for him in this regard. He's managing it better, but I doubt that trauma is going anywhere and he will still need time to get more comfortable around people (he might never be truly done with it). But that's okay, that didn't stop him from creating a new friendship. So what's still holding him back? Is it just a regular progress-regress cycle of healing for him?

Is he just not ready yet? After all some decisions take time for him. We see it when he receives his devil fruit. We see it in Dressrosa when it takes him many chapters to admit his own desire to take down Doflamingo by himself. It takes him time to accept things he isn't mentally ready for. We saw that indeed everytime he needs to take an extra moment or two to brace himself to touch someone as well. So is that just it? He needs more time? I don't think so, actually.

Remember this beautiful moment? In my native language this translation of Ace's line is more poetic: I will accept the opened arms reaching towards me as well as the death by the blade.

What was it about accepting opened arms reaching for you? This is Trafalgar Law's first hug on screen. You can't make this shit up. This Ace-Law parallel is there in the story on purpose. And it breaks me every single time.

So I guess Law got over that obstacle as well. He's ready to move on and start new things. And then he creates a beautiful friendship with Kinemon only to retreat to step one at the end of Wano, not even wanting to admit they became friends, even though everyone knows they did (the same with Strawhats). We saw this beautiful progress, his regress for a moment in Dressrosa, him opening up and closing back again. But he improved a lot since Sabaody, he's not the same person anymore. Law in Zou won't retreat anymore before even making a first step.

I think what's holding him back now is his biggest fear. And he has a pretty good freaking reason for it.

Hint number 1: Ope-ope no mi might not be enough.

Hint number 2: lead bullets greatly affected his body.

Hint number 3: "You met Corazon and he managed to prolong your life just a little longer".

Hint number 4: "I don't have much longer to live!", why is Doflamingo reminded of that line in particular now if it's just a thing from the past?

Hint number 5: death is constantly on Law's mind.

I think we need to connect all those dots together. Yes, I know, this theory isn't new. But it makes more and more sense. Ope-ope no mi didn't heal Law from amber lead completely. He only managed to prolong his own life thanks to it. That's why his execution should be done with lead bullets, it's not because it's symbolic, it's because that's literally what will kill Law in the end. Doffy was going to make the process just a tad bit faster is all. Law isn't afraid of death, but he is afraid to die without achieving anything or "dying for nothing", like he says in his flashback. He managed to survive till age 26, but his time is running out again.

Law's supposed "awakening" means he can use rooms remotely, without the need to be inside them. Interesting thing about those attacks is that they all use anaesthesia. But shouldn't you want your enemies to feel the pain when you attack? Let's look more closely to what Law says here. "This influences your body in other ways". Interesting. Perhaps because that's the ability he uses on himself when treating his amber lead syndrome? That would explain the need for anaesthesia, otherwise the sickness would limit his mobility.

In other words: Law can remove/hide the symptoms, but he can't cure the source of the amber lead poisoning apparently. It shouldn't be so strange, he was clearly born with it, it was passed down from his parents, which means it's in his DNA. Using ope-ope no mi inside his own body is pretty clever and let me quote Doffy on that: "it's all about how you use your abilities". Doflamingo did the same with his strings to restore his organs, I think he got inspired by Law. And yes, all the hints come mostly from Doflamingo, so he knows Law is dying.

Let's look at events of Dressrosa again to see if my idea fits. In Dressrosa we learn for the first time that Law's ope-ope no mi requires a lot of stamina. Perhaps because he needs to constantly apply it to monitor his own body and that's why he can't spare as much for fighting enemies as he would want to. Then he gets shot with lead bullets and nearly loses his life as the result. Weird that few bullets could do it to him while he could take much more beating in general. Unless it's because his body is still weak to the lead and it makes the poisoning spread faster, which would make perfect sense. Then Law is put in seastone cuffs and carried by Luffy through half of Dressrosa all the way to the palace. There is no moment in which Law, no matter how tired he is by being manhandled, claims he could just run on his own. He doesn't even sit on the horse or the bull, is just lying down. There is no proper explanation as to why he was lying there lifeless like that, nothing was preventing him from just sitting down instead. Later he claims it was because he was saving up his energy.

But now let's look at this situation logically. He was lying down and compliant to insane degree, because he felt *sick*. Which should remind us of how he was sick before Corazon got him ope-ope no mi. At times he couldn't even move anymore. Putting Law in seastone cuffs means his ope ope no mi is not monitoring his body anymore so it saps out all of his strength. Remember this, this is how bad Law's health is already in Dressrosa.

Even with Doflamingo directly threatening them he can't lift himself up properly. This is emergency, this is not the time to be lying around, and yet he can't do anything and this might a sign of how bad his condition actually is. He's shivering here because he feels helpless and defenseless. His trauma isn't exactly helping either.

At the end of Dressrosa he is weezing, suffocating, but still uses room and shambles to bring Luffy to safety. We can see him there in the background afterwards, looks to me like his heart almost giving up on him. Few moments later he's lying down, most likely passed out. This all is very hard to notice. That room he used to bring Luffy to the ground was also huge, perhaps as huge as the one he used in the palace before to fool Doffy. And he says it cut down on his lifespan. Well, good to know he cut down his lifespan not once, but twice already, and just in Dressrosa alone. Oda didn't nerf Law in Dressrosa, that's not the reason of why he seems weaker than before.

If Law is dying and overdid himself in Dressrosa on top of that, then no wonder he would say this. He might have left his crew in Zou knowing very well that it might be the last time he sees them. Now it makes much more sense. But Dressrosa did tip the scales into making him believe he might literally not make it out and no strategy could help him to survive against the illness.

Now let's jump to Wano. Remember this puzzling moment? He didn't fight anyone, only did some warps, and yet he is already worrying about his stamina? Yes, I take it as a sign that his condition worsened siginificantly. It was ofc also used for the plot to move forward in direction Oda wanted it to as well, but he wouldn't do it *just* for that reason.

Now let's jump to fight against Big Mom. Law doesn't look alright here.

And he can't even get up after the fight for a while, he's panting all the time. Kid, who was also exhausted after the fight, is already back on his legs and moving around. Law meanwhile still can't. Not even when water is rushing their way and he needs to move.

That's some enourmous room he created there. It looks like 10 times size (if not more) of Onigashima. It looks bigger than the whole Flower Capital! So, how much lifespan did he cut down this time?

Now we're finally getting to Winner Island. Blackbeard used his yomi yomi no mi attack that renders the devil user who's hit with it unable to use his powers. We saw that happen with Ace, remember? (yes, this is yet another parallel to Ace. Both of them lost to Blackbeard). And this is how Law looks now without his devil fruit to support him. You have two shots from Winner, one from Dressrosa after he gets shot with lead bullets (lower left) for comparison, anime, and, finally, comparison to sick Law from the flashback. The only difference here are the missing white patches on his skin. Symptomps look exactly the same: heavy breathing, unable to move, shivering, and his forehead is shaded in same way which implies high fever. This is where we are right now: Law's now in as bad of a state (or very close to it) as the end of the flashback. I guess white patches take some time to appear, it's not instant after his devil fruit is unable to be used to repress it anymore.

We didn't yet reach this state, but it's approaching very, very fast.

Very subtle anime hints. The whole sequence with the poneglyph in Onigashima gave us a flashback to Corazon and shows him dying while covered by white snow. Whole flashback has slightly white hinge to it and Law enters the scene from the completely white background.

Just reverse the colors from that oddly coloured bit from fight against Big Mom. Oooff.

Absolutely despicable foreshadowing from One Piece Red. Hearts appear in the credits together with the ONLY line in the song that talks about death. I saw anime doing obscure hints like that countless times before, be it in openings or endings. Apparently some anime producers are aware of what's coming. The first time I noticed this scene with Law hiding his eyes and the lyrics I grew very anxious. I spent most of my life watching animes, I know what game they're playing here. Back then, I just didn't yet know what it foreshadows exactly.

Law accepted his fate and just like the lyrics suggest: "even if I disappear, my song will still ring out". Meaning even after he's gone, people dear to him will carry on and that soothes him. He smiles here, he likes this freaking song exactly because of this line. Those are his real thoughts, that's how he feels inside when he isn't pretending not to care.

This is also why he says things like this. He truly thinks it doesn't matter what happens to him, not just because he's suicidal or he wants to sound cool. No, he says it because he's going to die anyway, so indeed, it does not matter to him.

It's reversed from what we thought this was all about. It's not that he wants to kill Doflamingo so much he doesn't care for his life or chooses to die. It's gonna happen anyway. In fact, if he could, he would prefer not to die:

He wants to live.

There are many asian series dealing with terminal illnesses and protagonists coming to terms with it or embracing some difficult to make choices, like in Searching for Full Moon or Your Lie in April. But please let me tell you a short summary of Shiroi Kage/White Shadow, it's a Japanese live action series from 2001 (god, they don't make such good jdramas anymore, spoilers ahead) about a surgeon who is dying, but decides to keep doing his job till the day he actually dies. He shows a lot of compassion to his patients, because he can easily relate to their situations, especially those about to die soon. His compassionate heart saves a lot of people and helps them accept their own approaching death, even though the doctor is still struggling against it himself. He acts rough and cold towards anyone else than patients, people try to form meaningful connections with him, but he refuses any attempts. Finally he accepts someone in his life that he thinks will carry on happily even without him, because they embrace everything the life offers, no matter if it's love, death or rejection. That person becomes their most important person and shows them that it's okay to fear death. In the end the surgeon chooses how to die himself, without waiting for the illness to take him. White Shadow as a title is symbolic because white in Japanese culture is the color assocciated with death. Does that remind us of a certain disease that shows as white patches on the skin?

The actual reason why Law keeps everyone at distance is probably the same that the main protagonist in Shiroi Kage had. It's for the sake of others, not his own. He doesn't want them to get attached, to feel devastated when he dies, and if they never grow close then they might feel a bit sad but easily move on. This is how he wants to die: so people won't miss him and won't despair the same way he despaired when his parents, sister and Cora-san died. That's his kind heart right there. Kinda the same way Your Lie in April uses the concept. Luffy is still grieving Ace, he doesn't need another heartbreak of someone important like a friend dying, so Law would rather lie that this was never friendship just so Luffy can carry on.

Law doesn't have much time left. And he wants to take down as many bad guys as possible, he might have even set some plans in motion that will succeed even after he dies, Drake and/or other people will carry them out to the end even after Law will be gone.

Remember the cold goodbye in Wano? He stayed at the port after battle, he avoided Luffy and Strawhats (besides Franky) and even tried to make them leave on different day than him. He acted extra cold thinking it will prevent attachments, especially if he thinks he's seeing them for the very last time, with his health in such a bad shape.

This scene should remind you of Punk Hazard, it's a callback to it. Law already then decided that this will be how he will say his goodbye.

Q.E.D., the reason behind his uneccessary coldness is solved, every loose ties got explained, there are no inconscistencies left. That's why I think I read all the signs right, even though it's just a theory based on hints and speculation. But it all fits.

Law thinks Luffy isn't attached to him much yet and that he will move on happily without lingering too much on his death. Oh boy, he's so wrong about that. That's because he didn't see Luffy's reaction in Dressrosa after he passed out.

Luffy cares for him deeply. We saw how unusually happy he was when they reunited on Punk Hazard by chance. How much he bragged about Law being a good guy. How insightful and considerate he tried to be towards him! Sure, he pushed Law's boundaries a bit, because he thought otherwise Law would never be ready to start new friendships (and was he wrong? probably not). Luffy said goodbye to him in Wano with a smile, probably thinking Law just really wants to go for his own adventure, or maybe he needs some time to get ready to admit stuff. And Luffy accepts it and waits for him.

Once Law will realize his mistake he will regret ever starting that alliance in the first place. Because he fucked up, he will leave someone behind very devastated if he dies.

If this post made any of you sad, then I'm sorry. Please remember it's mostly just a theory. Tomorrow I will make a post that will instead make you shed happy tears instead, hopefully.

We all know Luffy or Chopper will somehow cause the miracle and Law will get cured, right? Even if Law's flower is the Queen of The Night that dies before dawn (that's another foreshadowing at work here btw). We need to believe and prepare a whole truck of tissues. Fate always found a way to spare him, we need to believe in it again.

[eriochromatic]

Hey ! I absolutely adore your art, especially the recent Baroque Works pieces ! I was just wondering whether you knew about the Crocodad/crocomom theory and what you think about it if you do ? Have a good weekend!

Thank you so much! I do know about the croco theory haha, I think the first part about him being trans is absolutely true LOL (you can just assume that all the Crocodiles I draw are trans no matter what AU I put him in)

The part about him being Luffy’s parent I don’t really subscribe to, I just feel like he doesn’t need to have any ties with the revolutionary army? It doesn’t really add anything interesting to his character imo.

The timeline just invites too many contradictions imo, Crocodile starts living in Alabasta when he was 30, but then age wise Luffy would’ve been born when he was 27. When would he have fought whitebeard then?? He’s not a reckless person, I don’t think he would fight Whitebeard if he had a 3 year old to take care of.. If it was prior to Luffy, why did he join the RA later and then leave??? (and imo I personally think he fought Whitebeard soon after he became a warlord, maybe around 23-25, but a warlord joining the RA also makes zero sense) To me the Luffy parent part of the theory makes Crocodile’s characterization kind of messy, and we also don’t know enough about Dragon to predict whether or not he’s the type to have one night stands LOL

Maybe I’m being too nice in thinking that Crocodile won’t abandon a child immediately after they were born but I guess the whole Luffy parent thing just doesn’t fit with my vision of him haha, it feels more in character for him to have sought out Iva, transed his gender and went “ok we will never speak of this again” than have all this baggage with Dragon and the revolutionary army. Also I feel like if Luffy was Crocodile and Dragon’s kid then Iva definitely would’ve known.. but idk those are just my thoughts haha

I don’t hate the theory I mean I think the idea of Crocodile raising Luffy is a funny one and there’s been a lot of nice art that’s been inspired by it! But it’s just not something I think about often since the other half of the theory hinges on Dragon who is like a non-character to me.

also like we have confirmation from Oda what Crocodile's son would turn out to be if he ever raised a kid and this snotty brat is Not Luffy.

So if anything I just don't want to entertain the thought of Luffy turning out like that HAHAHA

[shizukateal]

In honor of Across The Spiderverse going digital, here's the Beyond the Spiderverse Prediction Bingo!!!!

Explanations below the readmore:

Spider Ham's Chekov Hammer: simple enough to guess, I'm just really waiting for that to pay off, preferably over Miguel's head.

Spider Noir and Hobie get along: just some good ole' fanservice.

Miles G. is actually a dork (he's just better at hiding it. mildly): Wow, great introduction Miles G.! Very suspenseful and intimidating!! Let's see how long you can carry that demeanor without breaking.

Margo / Miles (Miles G.?) / Gwen Love Triangle (Pavitr is annoying about it): Pass the popcorn everyone. How resentful will be Miles when he meets Gwen again? Is getting the spider-band together enough for him or is it just the first step into making amends? Maybe he feels more grateful towards Margo (and Hobie) and will give Gwen (and Peter B.) the cold shoulder for a while. Will Miles G. also enter the ring? Maybe this one really cute comic by @bubblypinkfreak will become true.

Jess Drew Subplot (baby is born?): REAL interested in finding out why Jess would ever follow an asshole like Miguel. Also she deserves more plot relevance. And fanart. Aaaaaand I kinda want to see her husband too.

The Spot Collapses in on himself: Gonna be honest with you, people, I have no idea how they'll fight him, this just seems like the cleanest solution.

Miguel's actually just as much of an anomaly as Miles: My own personal theory, not really based on anything concrete beyond some flags I get from Miguel and some stuff I'll explain later. Basically, I think Miguel's projecting on Miles, and that's part of why his beef towards him is so intense. The only explanation I can think of is that he destroyed his original dimension, not just the one with his daughter in it, and the serum we see him take is what keeps him "stable" and "belonging" to Nueva York. Or you know, maybe just the watch, but the serum is more sus to me.

Gwen Stacy Fall Subversion: Either Gwen completes her character arc by saving Miles from falling to his death or she saves herself, thus breaking her karmic cycle of getting fridged.

Meows Morales cameo?? Pretty Please???: C'mooooon he became instantly popular and he's adorable!!!!! <3 <3 <3 bonus points if multiple miles help out to fight against Miguel's squad later.

We spend some time on Hobie's dimension: No idea how the plot would get there, but the concept art of Hobie's dimension is fire and I want to learn more about him <3 <3 <3 tell us why you almost gave up the mask, darling, and did you kill a cop in your dimension? <3 why would you feel bad about it? <3 <3 <3 <3

Gwiles Morales (he hates that name): Apparently this is how some of the staff called him. Poor guy.

The Spider-Band fights Earth 42's Sinister Six: For those who don't know, they control Earth 42, as confirmed by the art book. Nothing better to sweeten Miles G. to our heroes' side than taking care of them. Bonus points if one of them is explicitly a fascist and Hobie and Noir punch him together.

Miguel Bites Someone: bonus points if it's hot as fuck. Sorry but it's true.

Lyla's the real bad guy (beyonder): I'm gonna let moviebob do the heavylifting here. Could tie to that personal theory I explained above.

Peter B. vs Miguel fight redemption: ok this one I'm biased for because I personally find Peter B. more morally culpable than Gwen in their whole drama with Miles seeing as he's the adult with a kid. But also yeah, good chance for him to redeem himself in Miles eyes (or not! maybe Miles wants more from him that just standing up to a bully) and take Miguel down a peg. Bonus points if he looses a leg, because apparently that's something that happens in Spidergirl's comic.

Prowler!Hobie somehow: Not saying our Hobie will turn into the prowler, just that the connection will be addressed somehow. Idk man, it just feels like positioning Hobie as another mentor for Miles is very deliberate.

Miles feels guilty about Earth 42: Juicy source of drama between him and Miles G. as well as a free character arc about how responsibility is more than just cause and effect.

Miguel tries to redeem himself by dying but Miles won't allow him to: Miguel O'hara has several problems, and I speculate they all come from his self-obsession. Everything about the spider society is about him erecting structures dedicated to his pain to turn himself into the martyr holding reality together. So if he's finally proven wrong, it seems pretty in character to me that his idea of making amends would be to do the same thing one last time for "the right cause", being the diva he is and how he thinks you can sacrifice one person to save everyone else and all. I don't think Miles will allow that, though. Bonus if the scene parallels the one in into the spiderverse when Miles returns Peter B. home.

That one @cheezthatboiii comic / Mileswitch: because what's the point of having a twin if you can't fool people about it?

Gonzalo/Gonza Morales: The correct alternative to Gwiles if anyone during production has braincells or is latine.

Margo Subplot (family issues): confirmed in the artbook that she ended up having more plot relevance than originally planned, and even if that wasn't the case she deserves it. And more fanart.

The Spot is defeated with kindness: Ok. Before I said that I don't know how the Spot could be defeated with violence, but maybe that's not needed? He is clearly a foil to Miles after all, and I think it would do him (Miles) a lot of good to practice some radical empathy, even on someone who kinda doesn't "deserve" it. This isn't so much about him being ""redeemable"" (fandom has ruined that whole concept) so much as how much empathy the narrative is willing to grant him.

Jeff meets Gonza before Miles reveals to him that he's Spiderman. He's confused by having 2 sons: this just feels to me like the most probably sequence of events given the franchise's usual use of bathos and subversion of expectations.

Spider Support Network Finale: No more spider society authority "correcting" the multiverse, every spider-person gets a watch so their friends can come over and lend a hand and prevent as many deaths as possible.

Aaron 42 gets severely injured/dies: I don't want this to happen, it just seems like a way of trimming some fat in the cast and getting some more drama from Gonza.

[thesunfyre4446]

Hi, love your blog.

I wanted to ask what are your predictions regarding the second season of HotD? We saw the trailer and having in mind all the theories, "leaks" and most of all, season 1 and some of the decisions the writers had made, I must admit I'm not very optimistic. Also, some of the scenes in the trailer made me think about it more, e. g. what if Alicent continues to somehow justify Rhaenyra and behave like she did in episodes 8 and 9, as in, being disappointed with her children, pining for Rhaenyra (not necessarily in a romantic way, I for one never saw anything romantic between them, but still) and regretting her decision to make Aegon king. Idk, it could really sour her character to me, even though she was one of my favourites. Another thing is that nude Aemond scene because I'm pretty sure that's with the brothel madame from ep 9 and I hate it. Especially if somehow the reason turns out to be Luke's death and he needs the comfort of an older, motherlike figure (the same woman who basically SAed him if we go by that scene with her in s1) because his own mother berated him. It would be too weird and distasteful. Finally, there are rumours about Dyanna being the one to help Mysaria with b&c, Rhaena getting Nettles storyline, Rhaenyra becoming Visenya... Finally, 9ne3 of the things I really want to see is a complex, but ultimately strong relationship between Aegon and Aemond, but I dare not hope.

As you can see, I may be a bit dramatic but I really don't have a good feeling lol. Anyway, thanks in advance for your answer

first of all, i'm so sorry for taking forever to answer !!! my inbox is very overwhelming for me at the moment...

ummmm yeah wrt to alicent, the trailers do make it seem like she's against the violence and the war, but ali has always been against murder and violence so that's not surprising. i do think that because they're trying to keep b&c as this big plot twist we haven't seen post-b&c alicent yet. so we'll have to wait and see.

wrt to aemond and the brothel scene... i think it was confirmed that this was the madam from s1? i'm also very uncomfortable with this... just... no.

if they'll try to frame b&c as this gurlboss moment i will scream and rage. helaena and her kids never did anything to deserve this. the rhaena and nettles situation - if it's true, then actually fuck this show. nettles and rhaena have absolutely nothing in common. NOTHING. and if y'all can find me ONE thing that they have in common i will go back on my words.

we'll just have to wait and see anon!

[dystopicjumpsuit]

Martyrs and Kings AND ZOMBIES!!!

A/N: I'm so excited to share this spooky, sexy one-shot sequel to Martyrs and Kings! I've been planning this fic for months, and I hope y'all love it. Quick note: obviously, this fic contains spoilers for M&K; however, it was beta-read by my partner who has not (yet) read the original fic, and they said it worked as a stand-alone story, so if you haven't read M&K yet and don't mind spoilers, read on!

This fic is dedicated to the amazing @clonemedickix in gratitude for all the love and support that you've shown me and so many others in the fandom. Thank you so much for everything you do, and particularly thank you for your feedback on the field medicine. You are a rock star!

One final caveat: I am a horror wimp, but I did my best. Please don't expect Stephen King 💜

Pairing: Post-stasis Kix x OFC Dr. Maree Finnall

Rating: M (minors DNI)

Wordcount: 5k (this just made M&K 10% longer lol)

Warnings and tags: peril; suspense; violence; blood and injury; gore; medical procedures; adult language; SMUT; oral sex; face-sitting; Kix activating my competence kink like no other. IMPORTANT: an additional content warning is listed at the end of the fic due to spoilers. If you have triggers, please check the end of the fic for the BOLD PINK TEXT before reading.

Summary: The crew of the Meson Martinet goes after the score of a lifetime and discover that they may have bitten off more than they can chew.

Suggested listening:

Martyrs and Kings chapter 1 | Masterlist | Sign up for my tag list

“B1.5-series battle droids are a myth,” Kix said firmly. “You’re wasting your time.”

“The good doctor doesn’t share your opinion,” Quiggold argued.

Sidon Ithano, as usual, said nothing, his crimson helmet swiveling slowly toward Maree. Kix turned to her as well, his jaw set, his eyes full of confidence that she would back him up. Kriff it. She absolutely hated being caught in the middle of this argument.

She cleared her throat. “There’s… some debate in the academic community about their existence, actually. If they ever were created, they were never deployed at any recorded battle—and it’s a good thing, too.”

“Why is that, exactly?” Reeg Brosna asked.

He was sprawled on the bench of the dinette, his arm draped around Orys Brenko as the research assistant perked up immediately.

“Is it true that they used nanodroids to retrofit original B1-series droids?” Brenko asked, his face flushing dark green with excitement.

“That is one theory,” Maree said circumspectly, keenly aware of Kix’s scrutiny. “According to contemporary sources—and noting that those sources are unreliable at best—the B1.5s had significantly upgraded blaster resistance. There was another rumor as well, even less credible.”

“What rumor?” Reveth interrupted, leaning forward over the table, drawing Ithano’s attention subtly.

“They said the B1.5s could keep going even if you blasted their processors,” Kix cut in before Maree could reply. “It was a stupid story the commandos made up to scare the shinies.”

“But what if it wasn’t?” Brosna asked. “Indestructible battle droids? They’d be worth a fortune.”

“Even if they don’t exist, the haul from a Techno Union stronghold could set us up for life,” Reveth pointed out. “I say we go after it.”

Squeaky grunted his agreement, predictably. The Gamorrean was always guaranteed to follow the pretty Twi’lek’s lead. Reveth could have suggested a nude spacewalk, and Squeaky would have thought it was a grand idea. Brosna and Brenko voted in favor as well. Kix voted against, and Maree did as well, purely out of solidarity. Privately, she was consumed with curiosity about the B1.5s, and she couldn’t deny that the possibility of such a groundbreaking discovery was alluring in the extreme.

Quiggold voted in favor, and Ithano abstained, and so it was decided: the crew would send a team to scout the Techno Union stronghold, and if they found anything worthwhile, the rest of Ithano’s small fleet would join them.

“We’re gonna need your expertise, Doc,” Reveth said to Maree. 

“Absolutely not,” Kix snapped.

Maree glanced at him in surprise. It was unlike him to try to overrule her choice, and she didn’t care for it. “Reveth is right, Kix. I’ll be able to identify the highest-value items, and I have a good idea of what’s in demand.”

Kix looked away, clearly unhappy, but recognizing that he’d overstepped. “Fine. But if you’re going, I’m going, too.”

“We’ll need you to stay and command the fleet from the Scorpion while the captain is away,” Quiggold interjected.

“Fuck that,” Kix growled. “Brosna is my first mate—he can take command from the Scorpion. When it comes to Maree’s safety, I outrank everyone on this ship.”

“Brosna doesn’t have the experience—” Quiggold began.

“Agreed,” Ithano said, his deep voice cutting through the buzz of conversation and debate in the Martinet’s galley. “Quiggold, command the fleet from the Martinet. Brosna, take the Scorpion. Reveth, Squeaky, you’re with us.”

The captain’s decision was final, and within a few hours, Kix, Maree, Reveth, Squeaky, and Ithano had boarded the Scorpion’s shuttle Stinger and departed for the desolate moon where the Techno Union base had sat untouched for over fifty years.

“Fifty credits says we find nothing,” Kix said.

“I’ll take that bet,” Reveth replied.

Squeaky grunted his agreement. Ithano said nothing.

“Maree, you want in on this action?” Reveth asked.

“Kix and I have a private bet on the side,” Maree said with a mischievous twinkle as Kix shot her an inscrutable look.

Reveth smirked. “Sounds like fun.”

“Oh, it will be,” Maree replied. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of crimson as Ithano moved through the shuttle. On impulse, she leaned in and whispered in Reveth’s ear cone.

Reveth’s eyes widened as her mechanical hand instinctively settled on Maree’s waist. “Damn. You and Kix want a third for that?”

Ithano’s helmet whipped to the side as he suddenly became very interested in the conversation. Maree suppressed a laugh.

“What do you think, Kix?” Maree asked with faux innocence. “Can Reveth play with us?”

Kix eyed her with a perfectly neutral expression that warned Maree he knew exactly what she was up to. “You gotta win that bet if you want to call the shots.”

“You’re on,” Maree replied immediately.

Ithano’s helmet swiveled from Maree, to Reveth, to Kix, and back to Reveth, but he said nothing. Kix merely turned back to the navigation controls and continued to pilot the shuttle toward their destination.

The old Techno Union stronghold was on a remote, swampy moon, and the dense vegetation had grown thickly over the past five decades. Kix was forced to set the shuttle down several klicks from the decrepit base. He didn’t like it. He didn’t kriffing like any of this. It was too far; they’d be too exposed; their progress would be too slow in the mud. He glanced at Maree and felt his anxiety spike.

How the kark am I supposed to protect her out there?

He double-checked her gear as she suited up, adjusting the fit of her holster for a quicker draw. He quickly inspected her blaster before handing it to her.

“What’s going on?” she asked quietly. “You’re on edge.”

He shook his head. “I don’t have a good feeling about this mission.”

“It’s not the first time we’ve gone into one of these old strongholds,” she pointed out. “We’ll be okay.”

He nodded. “Yeah. Yeah. You’re right. Just… Keep your eyes open.”

“I will,” she promised. “And I know you’ll watch my back. Just like I’ll watch yours.”

He traced his fingertips along her jaw as he pulled her closer to himself. He couldn’t feel her soft warmth through his armor, but her nearness felt comforting regardless. He kissed her gently, threading his fingers through the hair that she wore in loose braids. 

She looked so different now than she had the first time he’d met her two years earlier; her elegant wardrobe replaced with sturdy, practical clothing meant to withstand rough field work and the occasional blaster fight. But underneath, she still smelled like tea and honey and home. She was still the same—still his Maree.

“If you’re finished sucking the lips off her face, can we get going?” Reveth teased. “Droids aren’t gonna find themselves.”

Despite Kix’s misgivings, the trek to the derelict base was uneventful. Squeaky stayed with the shuttle in case they needed a quick extraction, while Ithano, Reveth, and Maree hacked their way through the underbrush along with Kix. It was slow going, and the swamp was creepy as hell, but eventually they made it to the plastcrete and durasteel structure.

There was no power to the base, so they cut their way through the sealed exterior blast doors. Once inside, the group fell silent as they made their way through the dusty, cobwebbed hallways. The base was pitch black inside, illuminated only by their own torches, and once again, Kix felt the simmering anxiety in his gut begin to roil.

“Something’s been living in here,” Reveth muttered, training the beam of her flashlight on a tangle of debris that was unmistakably a nest for something… large.

Kix didn’t respond, but he reached out and pulled Maree closer to himself, then drew one of his DC-17s. Ithano brought up the rear, his blaster rifle ready.

“Control center should be just ahead,” Maree whispered. “Reveth might be able to restore power from there.”

“We’ll be karked if she can’t,” Kix replied quietly.

“Happy thoughts, Kix,” Maree murmured.

Right. Happy thoughts. Spiced biscuits. Unlimited bacta. Maree’s tits. More credits than I’ve ever seen in my life. The Scorpion. Weapons caches. Maree’s thighs. Maree’s thighs on my shoulders. Maree’s thighs framing my face while she rides—uh, weapons caches.

“Control center,” Reveth called under her breath as she reached a sealed doorway.

They pried it open enough to squeeze through. Kix went first, sweeping his light across the room as he scanned for threats. Reveth followed, then Maree and Ithano. Reveth headed straight for the control console and plugged in her small power unit and began to fiddle with the controls.

“Happy thoughts,” Kix mumbled, returning to the doorway to keep watch over the pitch-dark corridor.

Within a few moments, Reveth let out a quiet, triumphant huff as the control console flickered to life, dimly illuminating the room. She went to work immediately, interfacing her datapad with the ancient console.

“Damn. Main power cells are depleted,” she said. “I’ll try to at least get emergency lighting turned on.”

“Why would the power be depleted if the base has been abandoned for decades?” Maree asked. “The Techno Union had extraordinarily advanced power cells that were capable of storing energy far longer.”

“Unless something used it,” Reveth said.

Kix swiveled his head to stare at the Twi’lek.

“Like what?” he bit out.

She shrugged. “Dunno. But we might find out as soon as I get the data decrypted.”

A distant, deep hum sounded, and red light flickered on throughout the base.

“Nicely done,” Maree told Reveth.

“Let’s get the data and get the kriff out of here,” Kix growled, hating every minute of their time in the farking spooky base.

“Working on it,” Reveth snapped. “Think you can do it faster?”

Ithano glanced between Kix and Reveth, then moved to join Kix at the doorway, blaster rifle raised. “What is it?”

“Not sure,” Kix replied quietly. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

Ever reticent, Ithano merely nodded and took up position across from him. Kix nodded in silent gratitude that the pirate captain didn’t question his instincts. Then again, the Crimson Corsair hadn’t survived this long by ignoring his gut. 

Kix’s eyes darted to Maree again. She leaned over the console, scrolling rapidly through the data files, searching for any hint of the information they sought. He turned back toward the hallway, his eyes scanning it watchfully.

“No kriffin’ way,” Maree gasped.

“What?” Kix and Reveth demanded in unison.

“You just lost a bet, my love,” Maree told Kix.

“Wait, really?” Reveth asked. “It’s real?”

“‘Project Ophio,’” Maree read, her voice low and hurried. “Principal investigator Vamb Tebrem. Project number T327H1138X99. Primary focus of study is to develop experimental NM-K reconstitutors with the purpose of enhancing the durability and combat acumen of extant B-1 series assets…” Her voice trailed off as she leaned closer to the console, flicking through the data hurriedly. “Project director reported a 62% success rate in the initial efficacy trial; however the experimental reconstitutors were prohibitively expensive to manufacture, and the unpredictability observed in field tests was not adequately resolved—what field tests?”

“You catch any of that?” Reveth asked Kix.

He shrugged. Maree’s voice had dropped to an inaudible murmur as she scrolled through the data, then opened another data file. A quiet chime sounded from the console, drawing Reveth’s attention.

A glowing hologram appeared over the console: wave after wave of battle droids locked in combat a group of clone commandos who should have been able to easily defeat the B-1s. But the droids just kept going. Nothing could stop their advance as they overwhelmed the commandos’ positions and tore them to pieces. Kix swallowed hard, hearing the screams of the dying commandos, unable to take his eyes off the hologram. Maree slapped a button on the console and the sound paused abruptly as the holo froze.

“Holy kark,” she breathed.

“What?” Reveth asked. “Is that not normal?”

“No,” Kix said grimly. “We need to get out of here.”

“Uh, about that…” Reveth said.

Ithano swiveled his head toward the Twi’lek. “What?”

“Opening that holofile triggered an alert in the system,” Reveth said. “Hopefully it’s nothing?”

“Time to go,” Kix growled.

“Yeah,” Maree said, her voice shaky. “Yeah, I think you’re right.”

“At least let me download the records,” Reveth argued, jamming a data spike into the console.

They all froze as a distant but unmistakable crash echoed through the base, followed by a rhythmic thumping.

“What is that?” Maree whispered.

“Clankers,” Kix said grimly, drawing his second blaster. “Seal the blast doors.”

“We’ll be trapped in here!” Reveth objected.

Maree stared at Kix. “Can’t we make it out before—”

A light flashed, and her body jerked as a blaster bolt smashed into her. She went down hard, and Kix barely had time to register what was happening before a firestorm of blaster bolts exploded into the room. He whirled back to the entrance and returned fire at the wave of battle droids that was advancing at high speed toward his position. Ithano was firing as fast as he could, but the droids weren’t dropping.

“Get those kriffing doors sealed!” Ithano bellowed.

Reveth had ducked down behind the console for cover as Maree scrambled to join her out of the line of fire. Reveth frantically worked the controls from her position on the floor, but she wasn’t fast enough. A single droid made it through before the doors slammed shut. The clanking and pounding of the army of droids battering against the blast doors was deafening. The lone battle droid charged across the command center.

“Kill it!” Kix shouted. “Fuckin’ kill it!”

Reveth, Ithano, and Kix unleashed a torrent of blaster bolts, but the karking thing wouldn’t go down, even as its components began to fail and fly off its body. It was headed for the console. It was headed toward Maree. Desperately, Kix launched himself at its mangled, skeletal form, tackling it as he locked his arms around and tore its head off with a sickening screech of twisting metal.

But the fucking thing kept moving, shambling toward the console. Kix growled and yanked out his vibroblade, slashing through the droid’s joints until nothing remained but a pile of scrap, and then he sprinted toward Maree, launching himself over the control console. 

“Maree!” Kix yelled hoarsely.

Her face was sweaty and contorted with pain as she clutched her hand around her upper arm, but she gave him a tight smile. “I’m all right.”

The blaster hole in her jacket sleeve was still smoking, and Kix felt sick as he saw blood covering her hand, oozing from a wound that should have been cauterized by the plasma bolt. 

“Let me see,” he ordered. 

She moved her hand, and he cut the sleeve away quickly, adrenaline coursing through his veins. Oh, fuck, it’s bad. It’s bad, and I don’t have my kit.

“We have to get out of here,” Reveth rasped.

Kix dug frantically through his pouches, finding only a few small bacta patches and a vial of spray bandage. He didn’t have a choice. It would have to do, at least until they could make it back to the Stinger. 

He shoved the jacket sleeve and vibroblade toward Reveth. “Cut that into strips. Wide ones.”

He drenched the blaster wound with spray bandage, then grabbed the first strip Reveth cut from the jacket sleeve and quickly tied it around Maree’s arm near her shoulder. “Do you have a stylus on you?”

“Always,” Maree said, her voice tense with pain. She pulled the stylus out of her pocket and handed it to him, carefully avoiding looking at the charred, bloody wound. “Why is it bleeding so much?”

Kix tied the ends of the cloth strip around the stylus and twisted to tighten the makeshift tourniquet, securing it as he replied in an artificially calm tone. “Sometimes it happens. Move just wrong—the cauterized scab opens—blood.”

He ripped open the bacta patches and arranged them carefully over the injury, covering it as well as he could before wrapping the rest of the fabric strips around them to secure them in place. Finally, he looked up into her eyes, inadvertently smearing her own blood on her cheek as he cupped her face.

“I’m not losing you today.” His words were firm, but tremor in his hands was undeniable, and his pulse thundered in his ears.

She smiled at him through dry, ashen lips, and he kissed her forehead, then helped her carefully to her feet. Reveth had pulled up a schematic of the base, and Ithano joined them at the console, pausing to squeeze Kix’s shoulder briefly.

“We don’t die so easily,” the captain said in his deep, rasping voice.

“Not today, anyway,” Reveth cut in. “I found an escape route.”

“Please tell me it’s not the ventilation shaft,” Maree said unsteadily.

“It’s always the ventilation shaft,” Reveth replied.

Maree’s shoulder screamed with agony as she crawled through the ventilation shaft. She gritted her teeth to hold back the whimper of pain that hovered at the base of her throat. The ventilation shaft was filthy and cramped, and their progress was torturously slow as they navigated as silently as possible to their destination. The conduit wouldn’t take them all the way out of the base, so they would have to make a run for the main entrance when they got close. The only way they stood a chance of escaping was to not draw the attention of the battle droids.

She followed Kix through the labyrinthine ductwork, crawling laboriously on her knees and one hand. Her injured arm had burned like fire when Kix first applied the tourniquet, but now her arm was completely numb—and equally useless. At last, they found the access hatch to the main corridor. Kix dropped down first, and then Maree realized exactly how difficult this was going to be with only one functional arm. 

“Just drop,” he whispered. “I’ll catch you.”

She took a deep breath and slid out of the maintenance hatch, feet first. Panic flashed in her mind briefly as she plummeted through the air, but Kix was true to his word, catching her before she could hit the ground. He set her down quickly and checked to make sure her bandage was still in place as first Reveth and then Ithano dropped down into the corridor.

They sprinted for the exit. Maree’s lungs burned and her vision blurred around the edges as she gasped for breath. Kix looked back at her sharply and reached for her hand, dragging her along behind him. By some miracle, the droids hadn’t detected them yet, and she could see the main entrance of the base. She forced herself to keep running, even as she stumbled and nearly went down, kept upright only by Kix’s strong grasp.

He tugged her arm over his shoulder and wrapped his arm around her waist to support her, but he didn’t slow his pace. “We have to keep going, love. We can’t stop now.”

“I know,” she wheezed. “So close…”

She could hear the clanking of droids behind them, and she pushed herself as hard as she ever had in her life to keep running. They cleared the entrance, and Reveth tossed a few magnetized thermal detonators onto the ceiling of the base. 

Keep running, don’t stop, keep going.

The explosion knocked them off their feet, but the rubble of the collapsed ceiling blocked the main entrance. It wouldn’t hold back the droids for long, but it bought them time—so long as they kept moving. Kix was up first, pulling Maree with him as Reveth and Ithano scrambled to their feet.

They ran for the trees as Reveth commed Squeaky. “We need a pickup, now!”

“He can’t get to us in the jungle!” Kix said. “We have to find a clearing where the shuttle can land.”

They dodged through the trees, trying to avoid the worst of the swampy ground, but the dense underbrush slowed their progress and steered them on a circuitous route. Out of the corner of her eye, Maree saw movement in the earth. The ground shifted and began to swell.

“What the kriff is that?” she demanded.

“Keep running, don’t look back,” Kix urged.

“No, what is that?” she repeated.

She saw a flash of pale, bonelike metal alloy, and then a battle droid erupted from the earth.

“Fuck!” she screamed.

All around them, the skeletal forms of B1.5 droids began to emerge from the swampy ground, punching their way to the surface and dragging themselves up from the mud. Kix released Maree and drew both of his blasters, opening fire without hesitation. Maree, Reveth, and Ithano followed suit, for all the good it did them. The droids simply wouldn’t go down; even if they took so many hits that they started to fall apart, they still somehow shambled on in a grotesque parody of their normal precise movement.

They had no choice but to keep running and hope that they could at least slow some of the droids down. She could hear the roar of the shuttle overhead, but the vegetation was too dense for Squeaky to pick them up. The Gamorrean’s indistinct, frantic squealing sounded from Reveth’s comlink.

“He said there’s a clearing about a klick southwest!” Reveth yelled.

It might as well be on the other side of the planet, Maree thought hopelessly. There were simply too many droids; they were advancing relentlessly, and the terrain was too hostile to cross it with any speed. Holy shit, we’re all going to die here.

Her mind darted to the holorecord of the field test—a kriffing gruesome euphemism for such carnage. It had been a complete massacre. The terrified screams of the commandos as the droids tore them to pieces; the spray of blood and viscera: the images were branded irrevocably in her memory. It was a horrific way to die, and they were about to find out firsthand. 

Panic clawed at her, closing her throat and making her shots go wild. Her legs felt sluggish, and her feet became unsteady, but Kix never let her fall, even as he fired ceaselessly at the pursuing droids.

“We’re almost there,” he grunted. “Keep running, sweetheart, you can do it.”

“Kix, go,” Ithano ordered. “Get her to the Stinger.”

“No!” Maree exclaimed. “We’re not leaving you!”

Kix ignored her protests, bending over and tossing her over his shoulder as he ran. His plastoid armor cut into her thighs and belly, and she squirmed to try to get away.

“Put me down! Go back!”

Kix ignored her and raced for the clearing where the shuttle hovered just above the ground, ready to take off as soon as the crew were safely aboard. He dropped Maree in the copilot seat and turned to Squeaky.

“Don’t let her follow me.”

He sprinted to the back of the shuttle and jumped out, making for the treeline.

“Kix!” she screamed, lurching out of her seat.

Squeaky didn’t hesitate. He thrust her back into the chair with a stern grunt, then secured the safety harness to make sure she didn’t try to run again. She could hear blaster fire and shouting outside the ship, and she tugged desperately at the harness. Squeaky grunted again to order her to take control of the ship, and he lumbered toward the rear hatch, blaster ready.

Her heart hammered as she took the controls. Please, please, please. The distraught prayer echoed in her mind, silently beseeching the Force. I can’t lose him. Not like this. She felt utterly helpless as the deafening roar of Squeaky’s blaster fire pounded through the ship. Mercifully, she soon heard the pounding of boots on durasteel, and then Ithano launched into the pilot’s seat and punched the controls, hurtling the shuttle away from the planet.

“Kix?” she asked frantically.

“I’m here,” he said, dropping to his knees next to Maree’s chair and wrapping his arms around her. “I’m here.”

“I’m here, too, thanks for askin’,” Reveth said as she flopped into her seat.

Kix stood and quickly released the safety harness, tugging Maree out of the chair and burying his face against her neck.

“Holy kark, I can’t believe we all made it out,” Reveth said. “I was sure Maree was toast.”

Maree laughed, and Kix glared at the Twi’lek. “Not kriffin’ funny.”

“It’s kinda funny,” Reveth insisted.

Kix shook his head and drew Maree out of the cockpit and back to the tiny med bay at the rear of the shuttle. “Med bay” was putting it generously; it was really just a bunk and a large emergency medkit, but it had everything he needed to treat her shoulder. He administered a stim shot, cleaned and redressed her wound, and removed the tourniquet. He worked efficiently, and she didn’t see any of the distress that had clouded his eyes back at the base—of course, they weren’t fending off a horde of unkillable zombie droids this time, either.

“What’s the verdict, doctor?” she asked with a tiny smile.

He stroked his fingers over her forearm gently. “You’ll live. Gonna have a kickass scar, too.”

“Will you kiss it better?” she asked, fluttering her eyelashes.

He smiled wryly as he leaned in and pressed his lips softly against hers. “Don’t ever do that to me again.”

“I’ll do my best. At least I’m finally going to have an exciting story to tell Baba and Eema.”

His eyes widened. “Oh, kriff, your mothers are going to kill me!”

The Stinger docked with the Meson Martinet first, and Squeaky, Reveth, and Ithano disembarked, then Kix piloted the shuttle to his own ship, the Scorpion. Brenko and Brosna were waiting next to the airlock when Kix and Maree emerged from the shuttle.

“Well, did you find the B1.5s?” Brosna asked.

“Yeah,” Kix replied grimly.

“Ha!” Brosna laughed triumphantly. “Pay up, Captain!”

“You’re still acting captain,” Kix retorted. “Now get your ass back up to the bridge until I relieve you.”

“Wait, you’re not taking command right now?” Brosna asked.

“Nope,” Kix replied, dragging Maree to their quarters.

The door hissed shut behind them, and Kix slapped the control panel to lock it. He was on Maree instantly, devouring her in a searing kiss as he unzipped and pulled off her jacket, carefully avoiding the large bandage on her shoulder. Once he had her top removed, he dropped his mouth to her throat and kissed a trail of hot, open-mouthed kisses down her body as he knelt in front of her. 

His hands roved over her urgently, clutching her body close to him. She tangled her fingers in his hair as he tugged down her trousers, and then he plunged his tongue into her ravenously. Her body jerked, and she cried out, losing her balance. He caught her with ease, then pulled her toward the bed.

“Kix,” she panted. “Don’t you at least want to get naked?”

“I can’t wait,” he groaned. “Sit on my face.”

“Oh, fuck,” she gasped.

“I’m planning to,” he said, lying on his back. “On my face. Now.”

She knelt, hovering over his mouth, staring down into his eyes. He gazed back up at her, sliding his hands up her waist to cup her breasts, before dropping them to her thighs and yanking her body downward.

“Kriff!” she exclaimed as his tongue slid deeply into her cunt, then his lips closed around her clit.

He held her in place as he feasted on her, his groans vibrating against her sensitive flesh. The sensation was overwhelming. She writhed, nearly toppling over, then leaned back to brace her hands on his ribcage. He ate her like he was starving, like she was the last thing he would ever taste, and he fully intended to savor every drop.

“Kix—fuck—gods—” she moaned, her hips finding a subtle rhythm even as his strong hands gripped her, preventing her from moving more than a few centimeters.

He murmured quietly against her in between the kisses and licks and nibbles—soft, nearly inaudible whispers of fear and adoration and lust. “... taste so fucking good… love you so much… thought I was going to lose you… never letting go… so kriffin’ scared… want you so bad…”

He released her thigh and reached his hand around to massage her clit. All the muscles in her core began to tense as pleasure spooled tightly in her body, but her orgasm remained tantalizingly just out of reach. She leaned back, groping blindly for his cock. She fumbled with his belt and eventually just slid her hand beneath the waistband until she wrapped her fingers around his rigid shaft.

He grunted at the contact, his hips thrusting up off the mattress. His hand strayed away from her clit to press his palm flat against her lower belly, and pressure was exactly what she needed. She convulsed with a sob, and he redoubled his efforts, tongue-fucking her through her orgasm. Distantly, she felt the thrusting of his cock against her hand, and then a rush of hot, sticky cum on her fingers.

She crumpled to the bed, and he pulled her tightly against him, kissing the backs of her thighs as she slowly came back to herself. After a few moments, he shifted, curling up behind her, tucking his thighs behind her legs as he drew her body close to his and buried his face in her hair.

“I love you,” she murmured.

He kissed the side of her neck, just behind her ear, dragging his tongue slowly across her skin as he slid his hand up to play with her breast. “Love you. Never scare me like that again.”

She laughed quietly. “Aye, aye, Cap’n. What’s gotten into you, anyway? You were acting protective before we even left the Martinet.”

He lay silently for a moment, breathing in the scent of her hair, before he replied. “You’re late.”

She blinked. “What?”

“You’re… your cycle, it’s like clockwork. And—you’re late,” he said hoarsely.

She swallowed. “Oh.”

The original comic panel that inspired this story! This was from Star Wars Adventures Ashcan. Alas, this comic was never published, so I am once again filling in the gaps in canon.

ADDITIONAL CONTENT WARNING: mention of possible pregnancy.

[sunmizuiro]

Does it look to you that she's keeping away Charlie from Lucifer?

Does it look to you that Lucifer is not smiling while looking up at his beloved?

Does it look to you that Lilith is being harsh while holding so gently little Charlie?

Okay you may disagree with me with the first one and I do too! It's complicating since we don't know much about the family but,,, okay what if she's actually the reason why Lucifer and Charlie never were close even if you see the family pictures it looks like they are and that they're having genuinely a good time, but it could be a possibility that Lily knows that Lucifer is really not that idealistic dreamer anymore and that he lost hope unlike her,,, maybe for Charlie's sake both of them wanted their kid to really live a happy hell life! No matter the conditions or the mistake that her parents did before, yes I didn't forget that Lucifer did show Charlie when she was a kid some of his dreams with light pure magic and all,,, but it looked to me that Lilith was waiting for them, and just took back Charlie to bedtime and nothing else! I didn't want to read too much into it because I really really don't want Lilith to turn out to be a bad mother or villain. I do plan to write everything that we know so far about her and theories— opinions that I have and what I'm predicting for the first family in Hell.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////HELLO BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE!! What you're going to read below was me watching Hazbin Hotel before episode 7 and 8 were out! And again I'm really planning to write a completely whole hopefully theory about Lilith and many other things in Hazbin Hotel, if you're obsessed with the show just like me I hope you'll have fun reading this date of it was 01/28/2024, english is not my first language butttt it's readable,,,maybe.

Okay so why on earth would Alastor be owned by Lilith (yes it seems to me that this speculation is surely true)? What happened exactly? Either because Al kept killing every overlords for power and so does he also crave to rule literally all hell? And it looks like Lucifer really doesn't care about his people unlike Lilith, Because she uses her singing and all? Literally the show is a musical and the characters aknowledge that kind of whenever they sing and dance, it's like just something normal in their hellish life. So maybe Alastor tried to have a deal with Lilith herself, a deal with the queen of hell which is well wildly powerful, so I feel like she turns the table around and in the end was the one in control of Alastor, making him go to the hotel immediately after Charlie's call in the pilot because she knows that Lucifer and Charlie aren't that close because she would bring her daughter back for bedtime to let Lucifer do his work since the man is the king of hell so he must be busy (I don't think that she is the reason for making Charlie avoiding Lucifer, he literally kept his smile and all when he gave her back his daughter and again the pictures on the walls do show that they were a happy family, and Charlie states in the pilot that Lilith is also super busy;probably more than Lucifer), and when Alastor succeeds he'll finally be free. Or maybe he got more powers with Lilith's deal? I cannot figure out why both of them were absent for seven years, quite suspicious… But according to how Alastor acted with Lucifer, the guy hates him deeply because the king's wife owns his soul? Like instantly when Lucifer got inside the hotel Al's eye was twitching, he looked so mad plus we figured out that Alastor seems to really care about his image and what others think of him, specifically asking everyone if they missed him because of his disappearance so adding that to how Lucifer doesn't know him yeah that could be irritating to Al, I just feel like Lilith is evil in some way but come on…Maybe she just really wants to rule properly in Hell like if Charlie's so sweet even when there is moment she gets angry and is quite intelligent and knowing what to say while not forgetting her slight naiveness, but what about Lilith, I don't trust completely the wiki about what is her personality? Like the thing she has in common with Alastor is that he's like the radio demon and Lilith with her singing.. Going back to Lucifer I don't believe they got divorced but just split up, Lucifer still cares like he's still wearing the ring, got pictures of Lilith with Charlie… Seeming to be staring at them when Charlie was asking for his help in his call, even before Lilith lefts it looks like that Lucifer was still absent with Charlie, in More Than Anything the lyrics 'Is that we can start again, not be pulled apart again' before Lilith left or after that? Maybe it has gotten worse since Lucifer kept coping while creating rubber ducks as he is depressed, all we know about the couple is that supposingly they're a cheesy and love each other deeply. And according to that introduction story of the first episode it looks like they both really do, but why did she leave? For what reason? Yeah that's all I got lol

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Ennnd of it! If you really read it all.... Love u man!

[not-goldy]

I use to think there was no way Jikook would ever come out. Together or even as individuals. Now I think its looking more and more like they will after MS and the reunion. I am leaning toward Jimin for sure, which is funny, cause I always said Jimin probably wouldn't because he's so OT7 and worries about BTS and he knows it would most likely harm his dad's business and his dad just opened a new place, but I can't see Jimin's dad being super damn selfish and telling him to stay in the closet to protect his business. Maybe to protect him, but not his business. He sees what his son goes through daily. The lies, defamation, slander, accusations. Called a queerbaiter and predator. And not sure how true this is, but this buddy system thing apparently has JK solos trying to research who the guy is standing next to JK, just to get goods on JK in the military and of course Jikook gossip, they are so mad and desperate. Not sure if that is true, but if so, Oh the SK government gonna snatch these MF's bald if they really track down these soldiers families and start harassing them. They don't even realize how fucking horrible that makes JK look. Tkk joining in as well. None of them have respect for JK. it reflects so bad on JK to try and involve other soldiers in their vendetta's and unfortunately for JK there are clout chasing people out there who will give up his privacy. He is gonna be so fucking humiliated and embarrassed if this turns out to be true.

Jimin probably knows at this point he is never gonna be free to live his life with Jk or his members or anyone for that matter, without harassment, unless he speaks his truth, which he's been trying to do for years, without out right saying it. Even if it means leaving korea and going somewhere else. Maybe Japan or even America who knows. Same with JK. I too think he will. In fact, JK has probably already been talked off the ledge by Hybe and Jimin not to out them, when he gets in his fed up moods. You can tell both are increasingly getting more and more frustrated. They even resorted to being private & working in silence, but BAM, when they wanna come out swinging, they damn sure do. The swing and knock fucking heads off. So I think its looking more and more possible that they aren't gonna hide much longer or at the very least make that glass closet even more clearer and stop putting restrictions on themselves after MS. I feel it in my gut. These so called fans are pushing them to their breaking point and its been brewing. Their public, we don't give a fuck about your feelings, private trip to Japan and now enlisting together was just the start. Wait and see if Jikook don't free themselves from this fandom. or I could be wrong and nothing will change, but I kinda think there will be change of some sort.

Jungkook got bad rep for the longest time for being "an asshole" "shitty" "fuckboy" with zero social skills- which time and again he's proven that's not the case. Being introverted don't mean you hate humans.

It's nice he's making friends in there- as he should. That is IF that's his even friend. I expect Jimin has made friends in there also. However Jimin is a private person who isn't going to expose his friendships accidentally. He can be guarded. Also, he's a Libra, he has the gift of foresight to know people would try to use whoever he's close with to get to him in there- like they doing with JK.

It's a shame these people can't live normal lives, smile at someone, stand next to someone, be polite to without all manner of theories being written about them assuming all sort of things about them and the poor stranger.

Jimin is growing, maturing, setting his priorities straight and since 2020 we've seen him gradually choosing his relationship, prioritizing it and making conscious decisions with that in mind.

Personally, I'm happy there aren't at cross purposes anymore and seem to be moving in the same direction in life.

I won't make any predictions for now, just observing and appreciating their bond, it's beautiful to behold as it unfolds. There's not much chaos within their relationship not much turbulence.

I want to see it to the very end. That's why I keep following their journey.

I want to see how they navigate a 7 way dynamic when they come back together as a group with the growth that's taken place in each of them.

Fully coming out is off the table, but they could surprise me who knows. We in uncharted territories here.

If Jikook do come out they will shock the skin off my bones honestly. That said, I'm still rooting for them.

[quarterlifecrisis-activated]

So I’ve been thinking about my earlier post (idk how to link posts 🤷🏻‍♀️ so it’s the one about Zheng) and I’ve been trying to figure out her character arc. Because she’s not in the show a lot and I know there’s more there that got cut for time. I’ll be honest and say I never fully understood why she went to Ricky for her plan or what her full motivation was. I have some theories but I’m trying to piece together an arc using the gaps in said arc so it might be rough. So if you disagree please let me know because I’d love to discuss this more.

I love Zheng and I think she deserved more screen time in season 2. I tend to believe that Zheng does operate with good intentions overall, but when the point was raised about some of her totalitarian tendencies I had to restructure my view of the character. Because we don’t see much of her I use the little we do see and what other characters say about her to form my opinions. But there are different ways to interpret things and I go back and forth on what is actually going on. For example, her “join me or die” line is interesting. I took that line as a woah harsh, but that’s just piracy. We as an audience have to adjust our standards of acceptable behavior towards what is common for pirates. On the other hand that line indicates that Zheng doesn’t let people walk away from the table. And her recruitment of the Republic of Pirates is in a similar vein. Again, as a viewer I took what she was doing as kind of a pirate union, because of her demand for a livable wage as well as Olu, Jim, and Archie’s positive reaction towards it. Of course it’s also extortion by a powerful crime boss, which is far less wholesome. (Even though extortion of the British Crown is rad as hell.) I believe that these two opposing views are in a way both true and intentional of the writers.

Which brings me to Ricky and Zheng. I was caught off guard originally when I saw them meet together and initially brushed it off as “plot stuff that needed to happen”. But I think there’s something there. In many ways there are parallels between Zheng and Ricky, they’re both in charge (kinda for Ricky) of massive fleets and they both are striving for even more power. In Impossible Birds they have similar lines Ricky calls people rubes who don’t know the puzzle chest is valuable. And Zheng in the same episode says “you people know so little” in reference to the same chest. While I believe Zheng’s statement comes from her years of experience, Ricky’s is very obviously classist. She’s a character that is on the path to becoming like the people she hates. If she got that power she could very well turn into that authoritarian leader who only cares about power. But it’s her interaction with the crew and her relationship with Olu that is going to pull her back. We see her appreciation for Stede and the crew grow throughout the season, whereas she rejected and mocked it at the start. The destruction of her fleet was necessary and I don’t think it’s going to come back.

Which leads me to season 3 predictions. Cause the shows coming back and no one tell me otherwise. Zheng’s goal is to get Ricky and rebuild her fleet. I think Jim is going to play into her arc a lot during this season. They understand wanting Revenge and will probably push Zheng to appreciate the people around her, like Olu. Her ultimate arc (fitting with the theme of the show) will be about realizing the error of her ways and understanding community and softness. My theory on kind of how this happens is they’ll meet Captain Henry Morgan. I’ve been listening to Howard Pyle’s Book of Pirates at work and it gave me ideas. Captain Morgan has a fleet to rival Ricky’s and I can see them enlisting his help to get revenge. He also is a piece of shit. He stole money from his own men and fucked off and is still regarded as a great pirate. I can see him being like a Mr. Beast type, where he’s a cult of personality that cares little for other peoples safety but he still has a rabid following. It’ll be a great parallel as to what Zheng does not want to become. We’ll also get to see how pirates typically operate (Stede and Zheng are the exceptions) which will provide more context to Ed’s Kraken era. It’ll be a great way for the show to say how different Ed was truly operating in regards to pirate culture. I think it’ll be similar to his Kraken era but the confirmation will be nice to get.

Anyway, let me know what y’all think cause I’m spit balling her and I’d love to discuss.

[emeraldsworld]

Buddy Daddies Ep 10 Speculation/ Predictions

the mood for this ep already looks so sombre I’m so unprepared..

I’m assuming from this shot that kyu does end up telling/ hinting to kazuki and rei that they’re in danger and that shigeki has asked for info.. which will obviously make them reflect on whether keeping miri with them is the safest thing for her moving forward

- or they’ve told kyu about misaki coming back and he gives them some advice they don’t want to hear… potentially something that contradicts his previous ‘don’t regret it’ advice now he knows they’re in danger but can’t betray the organisation …

which is obviously something both of them are gonna take really hard (from the looks of the trailer especially kazuki, though he wears his heart on his sleeve)

putting the rest of this under the cut bc its long

we also know that misaki makes a return in this ep. miri looked so happy to see her which really tugged on my heartstrings ahah

we know that she’s come to pick up miri and take her back from the episode synopsis

it seems that misaki is invited over for dinner from miri eating the hamburg steak and kazuki and rei sitting next to each other rather than opposite like they usually do (edit: its confirmed by the episode synopsis that she comes over to discuss)

I think this interaction with misaki, seeing miri happy in the presence of her mom for the first time AND potentially knowing that their family is in danger is gonna make kazurei reflect (spiral) on what the best course of action is… we know misaki is the one to intimate she wants miri back and they can’t really say no to her birth mother ..

I also think the reason misaki wants miri back is because she’s ‘made it big’ in her career and is moving out of japan- hence her posh new clothes and haircut and the ‘specific reason’ mentioned in the synopsis, this is also where the title ‘lost at sea’ could come into play

however I also have a theory that misaki is lying and has been paid off by the organisation to take miri back .. which would explain the fancy look and the sudden turn around in maternal feelings (though if she knows she’s gonna have a better life she may be able to offer miri a better childhood than before, since her life is no longer ‘ruined’ by her)

which brings me to these shots

we can see the family are shopping for miri again, and their bags and items are with them when they arrive at the funfair (you can tell by the rainbow lights and the final shots in the trailer with kazuki and rei)

this seems odd to me as buying miri a bunch of stuff and then having to lug it around the fair doesnt seem productive

which is why I think they might be giving her a final send off with lots of gifts and a fun day out 💔, they may not have a lot of time before the organisation closes in on them and they have to send her back to misaki..

you can tell they’re in the ferris wheel here which also makes me think they might be ambushed and the episode will end of a cliffhanger - thanks to the scenes from the op (though rei is dressed in his assassin wear in that)

(sorry for the low quality screenshot lmao)

I can’t fathom the anime making misaki come back without a genuine reason/ ploy considering the central themes of the show are about found family and how they set up that some people just don’t want to be parents … though I hope that if my organisation theory is true misaki isn’t doing something irredeemable bc they set her up as a victim and I would hate for them to do a 180° on that

and considering how many episodes are left and the focus on them truly being a family last ep, it seems too soon to definitively say that miri should live with her mom that is what’s best for her

edit: I also saw someone say that kyu may have been the one to send misaki as shigeki would just kill miri which I also think is a very likely scenario!

I’m excited for some angst though! lmk what you think this is a whole lot of waffle ngl

[spiderh0rse]

freeman's mind notes part 12, e56-60

e56

"ngyah."

believes Murphy's law is out to get him

ROCKET LAUNCHER POG

willing to drink reactor coolant water. Tbh it is clean.

silly Freeman. These aren't Shock Troopers

thinks honor in fights is a useless or detrimental thing.

dodges barnacle meat

more guns, less madness

so upset he's right about everything. Wishes his conclusion about the reactor melting down was incorrect

thinks he's the only person with enough urgency in the situation

screams at the possible murderer guard

oh I know where we are :>

out of 9mm ammo!

"YOU WEREN'T THERE AND NOW YOU'RE REAL. THIS IS INNSBRUCK ALL OVER AGAIN." now what does This imply? ghosts? more drugs than usual?

his hallucinations shoot back at him, he claims

e57

keeps worrying about the building collapsing on him

MORPHINE

immediately gets it in him. uh. where?? Did he inject that?

underwater mumbling :)

talks about the morphine as him needing that. well I'm sure he's in a lot of pain

"it's flooded! I'm a hero!"

running panicking yelling

hit by the electricity and just kind of flinches and yells

hasn't felt this good since he thought he was going to leave Black Mesa

he generally just seems a lot calmer and less inclined to putting together complex thought right now

repeating himself a tad

worried about an overdose if he takes more morphine

talks to a crate

more morphine anyways.

HEV SUIT VOICE HEV MY LOVE

gman sighting :D

ceases to be drowsy upon getting shot at

"we've got enough monsters for at least nine weeks"

"I was meant to turn this"

buttons! :D taps a ton of buttons

considers cold fusion a bad joke

thinks the portals are trying to read his mind

thinks the metric for not taking too much morphine is He's Still Walking

sir why are you asking some guy if he's an oracle

favourite dirty harry movie is the one where he kills some giant tentacle monster

wants to skip down the hallway

got a BEE in his Mouth

upset that alien blood made the hallway all dirty. He wanted to roll around in it before, when it was clean. Not now.

"bah >:("

now convinced the teleporters are holograms

thinks he's impressed by the hellportalroom because he's high

hes going to test his theory like a true scientist (on drugs)

plays with the portal output and walks into the portal input and cuts out immediately

e58

new intro, residue processing outside segment

thinks he just lost memory and that explains why he's suddenly somewhere else

BARELY avoids getting impaled on some falling metal

knows Mr. T's catchphrase :)

"I'm *Gordon. I can do both your jobs."

Eddie can't do makeup for shit. This does mean he's let Eddie do stuff to him, or watched, at least

thinks sugar is functionally the same as food

does not drink the soda.

can't decide if he'd rather have food or more bullets but doesn't want to eat headcrab rn

points his rocket launcher at a guard

hates when he's made to kill his target and him both

fully thinks there's not going to be any survivors of Black Mesa. Presumably including himself

cheers at explosions :3

thinks surprises where people end up dead are the biggest ones.

thanks a corpse for giving him more bullets

can't be sure if HECU talking are just voices in his head or real

has only now noticed he's outside

"ahhhhh. Ah."

loses track of what he's doing in the middle of doing it. Stands there for a moment.

correctly predicts the black ops actions

wishes he had a walkie talkie to decoy soldiers towards his voice

he has the power of chemistry (being very drugged) on his side

burning alien smells better than he thought it would

spacing out CONSTANTLY

return of the door opening ghost!

clickyclickclickclick

no longer trusts the ghost

a ghost mildly harassing him, giving bad advice, is something he's not as prepared for as people attacking him

thinks he can lift a giant concrete slab

e59

can't lift the concrete

wishes the HEV suit had pneumatic jacks

sneezes!

doesn't want a dying man to touch him

the weird yowling is back

doesn't like performing dance of the Geiger counter

delighted to see a soldier getting eaten by a barnacle

doesn't like that zombies are getting smart

flash of green?

thought he heard someone green.

aware he has head trauma. Thinks he may have synesthesia

if he thought he could pull it off he'd put a zombie in his HEV and let the military kill it

Slur count: Seven.

he's seeing the stupidest soldiers, he thinks

wants to publish a research paper about musics effects on soldiers in active warzones

sounds a bit more lucid right now I think?

has never seen anyone in Black Mesa die from carbon monoxide poisoning. This is not true of every job he's held.

kills space rancher's alien pets :(

loud elevator music...

didn't get to see how his unethical experiments on his coworkers went because of the rescas

lets a guy live because he cowers appropriately

green flash two...

does try to rescue a half headcrabbed guy

he's aware he's going to remember certain worse parts of these days more than others

chuggachuggachuggachuggachuggachugga

suddenly loud and violent

"no, this isn't working! let's do it some more!"

giant aliens are determined to fuck him any way they can he says

goes to his death kicking and screaming. green flash three.

e60

gets back and immediately shoots a single scientist. Conveniently the same guy Martinis kills on accident

thinks he's been summoned like a demon

referring to himself as The Freeman again

TELEPORTATION POG

he is dizzy from awful rotating teleporter room

wonders how the teleporter works. Thinks he may be making clones of himself and dying on loop whenever he enters the portal

"making sacrifices for the greater Gordon"

pronounces calliope as an american would

doesn't feel any air displacement with the teleporter. That's. Actually really interesting

oh hey that was gmans miniature sun

didn't notice the numbering on the portals

food still on the mind

wonders about the redundancy of teleporter testing bullshit

yells as he falls a great distance. Clocks that momentum isn't preserved when going through portals. that's so cool.

unimpressed at vortigaunt teleportation now that he can also teleport

episode cuts off as he enters a portal

[marunalu]

Hawks: AFO has no emotions

Afo in recent chapter: *his face almost cracked due to emotions*

I wonder...why AFO hates All Might so much?

Do you think All Might will deafeat AFO in this fight? What will happen? What are your predictions?

Hawks was wrong so many times in the past, its mind boggling to me why so many people in this fandom still take everything that comes out of his mouth at face value. Just because a hero says something specific about someone else, doesnt mean they are right. Hawks doesnt understand afo. He is not an expert of afos person. Afo already debunked hawks words about him not able to feel human emotions because he has "no heart", long before he even stated them in the first place, in kamino.

The reason why afo showed less emotions back then was because as an adult he has them for the most part under control. The younger afo gets by rewinding himself and also by tomuras hate having an effect on him, the more emotional and reckless he becomes. The emotions afo shows now is who he deep down truly is, the person he is trying to suppress, because he sees it as a weakness. Thats why he is smiling all the time - because only the strongest can always smile. He is a man so full of hate and rage for the world he wants to steal everyones elses happiness, since it was (most likely) taken from him too.

We need to remember in what kind of time afo grew up in, people like him were hunted down and killed, how he lost the only person he loved (in his own messed up way) and IF dfo is true what was taken from him AGAIN. If our theorys are true and afo startet a family on his own accord to finally have some happiness in his life, its no wonder why he reacts to all might the way he does.

We saw hints of his hate and anger towards all might already in kamino, but back then he had it under control. Right now, he is letting everything out. Back in kamino he said: "while I killed your mentor, you took something away from me too. Thats why I want you to die in the most pathetic way possible." Its more or less confirmed that he wasnt talking about his empire here all might destroyed, because he explained to spinner that all might destroying his empire was "just a small lose" for him. Its not the reason why he hates all might so much. So if it has nothing to do with his empire, it has to be something as PERSONAL as killing nana was for all might - taking his most beloved person from him! It was nana for all might, his mother figure. Who is it for afo? Yoichi is dead afterall.

About my predictions: do I think all might will win? No, I dont think so. But I think it will at first look like it and he will give afo one hell of a fight. Do I think all might will die? Im 50:50 on it. Im still not convinced that afo is the villain killing all might in nighteyes vision. Nighteye knew what afo looked like, but even all might thought that if he didnt knew already he would never guessed that this "young man" is afo. So Im unsure how this will turn out. Do I think afo will win here? Yes, but not unscratched and most likely on the verge of death if not alone because of rewind. Will he make it to ua? Im not sure anymore to be honest, but we know he still needs to do something to make the fusion of tomura and his vestige complete and he needs to reach ua for that.

What do I want to happen? I want afo to go all out even more. I want his backstory to explain what the hell happend to this man to make him turn out like that! I want dfo confirmed in this fight out of afos own mouth, raging how all might destroyed his happiness the moment he was ready to leave his villain life behind him. I want him to use fire breath in this battle! Seriously if he uses fire breath I will run, jump and scream around my appartment like a maniac!

[h0jos-f4vorite-t3stsubject]

After watching gameplay of the rebirth demo up until the Nibel fire event, I have so much to say and I apologize how deranged I'll sound. (This is long I'm sorry)

Firstly: ASGDKFGSLDOAHDKHD *unholy crying screaming breaking walls*

Secondly: I love Sephiroth, I love him so much I'm one of those annoying mfers that believes I'm married to him. It's just objectively true and no one can tell me otherwise I can fix him. This was the first time I was actually, genuinely, 100% scared of him. His fall from grace, his breakdown, the pure rage and sadness and betrayl was so palpable and so real. The 180 he did from a respectable and heroic man to a bloodthirsty monster devoid of all sympathy was just so good.

3: the remake trilogy has an iron grip on my heart with its devotion to bringing realism and emotion to the once unvoiced, pixelated polygons of the 90s. The way they made "Cloud" act like Zack, with his voice lines and mannerism is just so nice, and how it glitches with Cloud's actual memories of what he experienced going back home (going to his mom's, going through Tifa's house, crawling towards his mom's burning house. And can I just say, what a dick Sephiroth can be. "Run, Cloud. You have to leave. You have to live." Those were his mother's words in her final moments. And Sephiroth taunted Cloud with them in remake.

D: the little details and reworking of old details is just amazing. Seph finally being pissed and fed up with Gast as he's the one that started the project that created him. The flashes of my favorite and most hated old man Hojo during the breakdown sequence as that is Sephiroth's primary abuser. The text in the books he reads having details blacked out, which makes me think that pushed Sephiroth even more to the point of him not knowing Lucrecia was his mother. Because her name was blacked out. I suspect Hojo did this, either thinking in advance about Sephiroth finding those books or sending people out to hide the details months or weeks before he was shipped out.

Bonus: the trailers for rebirth has me on edge. Cloud attacking Tifa? Aerith not dying? Zack still alive in parallel timeline? Why does Marlene know what will happen to Aerith? Why does the man that made my username the way it is keep popping up more and more? What's Hojo's involvement in the story? Are we finally going to save Aerith? I have theories and predictions.

Bonus 1: I really hope we don't save Aerith. I love her, but literally she had to die. The entire game was created with the message of loss and love, how much time are you spending with those you care about before they eventually pass on. Aerith's death was a sudden and sad one, but at the end of the game it was ultimately her and her influence in the lifestream that saved the planet (and I firmly believe that!! In the original game, Holy did what it could, but Meteor was stronger. The lifestream had to spawn and push it back, and it was stronger because of Aerith, her face showing up at the end of the game has me believing that. Literally she had to die or else the planet would die). Taking something as essential and plot driven as her death, while it'll be a twist, it ruins the message of the game of spending what little time you have left with your loved ones. I'd actually be more happy if Aerith was saved and then she turns and goes "What have you done? This wasn't supposed to happen. You shouldn't have saved me. You doomed us all."

Bonus 2: if the theory of the Sephiroth at the end of remake being a Sephiroth that is hyper aware of the timeline and trying to help us (the whole "Seven Seconds" thing being him warning Cloud of what to look out for), I have a strong feeling he might be on our side. Why else would he have his own playable section in the rebirth demo with his own character equip animations? Yes, I know he was playable in the og 7, but he wasn't as playable as this. Og didn't have the synergy mechanic either. Why does Cloud or "Cloud" have synergy with Sephiroth if it's just going to be wasted on one section of the game? I hope Sephiroth officially joins our party and becomes a whole playable endgame character.

Bonus 3: Hojo. The man, the trashy, the worst thing that has ever happened to the story of 7. His constant grip on the narrative so far has me thinking that we might actually get to see him at his peak. He's the center of everything, the fall of Sephiroth, the death of Vincent, the tragedy of Lucrecia, the start of the death of Zack. Hojo being aware of the whispers from remake, him seeing Sephiroth on his monitor, him laughing when Jenova's body was stolen, his little line in the rebirth trailer "This is the beginning of the end". Hojo knows something we don't and might be a more powerful villain because he's either planned ahead or worked in the details of this new timeline bullshit. Plus, with the intergrade dlc and its ties with deepground, I think Hojo will have a much MUCH bigger part to play with the remake trilogy and just maybe a Dirge of Cerberus remake. I can't wait to see how they build up my favorite lab rat.

[hyena-frog]

Light Bringer predictions post

I’ve been jotting down notes all day, trying to remember all my big and little predictions for Light Bringer. Some of these have already been discussed to death, some have been idle thoughts floating in my head. But I want to write it all out before LB finally comes out, so I can look back on this and either laugh at my naivete or feel vindicated by my genius.

I’m sure I’m still forgetting some things, so I may end up editing this later.

The new POV is either Diomedes or Volga.

Two or more POVs interact.

Light Bringer starts off in some way no one has theorized, because that's what Pierce Brown does best. (This happened with Dark Age too.)

Pierce Brown introduces even more plot points that won't be resolved until Red God.

There will absolutely be at least three huge things happen that no one predicted or even considered might happen. This is how Pierce Brown do.

Not everything will be resolved by the end of Light Bringer. (This is a given of course; I mean some of the things people are theorizing or want won't happen until next book.)

The Morning Star was originally commissioned by Octavia as a gift to Lysander. Since it is now in enemy hands, it is repaired and handed over to Lysander, as the "rightful" owner.

Cicero becomes important.

Someone we don't expect is sympathetic to the Republic, or is otherwise an unexpected Reformer (ie not Diomedes because everyone suspects him).

There is an epic showdown at Lorn's castle, or on Europa in general.

Rhonna and Char survived and fight on Mercury still.

Holiday remains true to the ideals of the Republic; she was never a traitor, and the people who keep repeating that theory despite having zero evidence will finally shut the fuck up.

We learn more about whatever Oculus is and what Quicksilver's intentions are.

Mickey comes back.

Evey comes back.

Evey is working with the remaining Sons in the Rim.

Faust/The Duke of Hands comes back.

Deanna dies. Holiday dies. Screwface, Pebble, and/or Clown die. I don’t want these to happen but I also don’t want to think about what kind of death made Pierce Brown cry. I don’t truly think any of these would really make him cry, but this is as close as I want to get to considering what the real answer is.

Lysander plots to kill Atalantia.

Atalantia becomes pregnant with Lysander's child but dies by DNA poison backfire.

Atalantia dies, Atlas remains alive to deal with in Red God.

Lysander gets worse, despite the guilt over Cassius.

Lysander doesn't face consequences yet but the winds shift against him.

Ajax seeks revenge on Lysander.

Ajax and Diomedes bond as cousins. Alternatively, they duel, but I think that is too obvious.

Ajax joins Darrow (out of revenge against Atalantia, not love for the Republic).

Cassius confronts Lysander. In person? Over holos? It is epic and emotional.

Pytha turns against Lysander and returns to the Archimedes. Alternatively, she remains with Lysander as a spy for Cassius.

Darrow and Cassius have a heart to heart.

Cassius talks to his mom. For better or worse. Julia will help Cassius despite hating the Republic because he is her only remaining family.

Cassius finds closure with Virginia.

Diomedes/Cassius or Screwface/Cassius becomes canon. Listen, I know these have a snowball's chance in hell, but I can dream.

We get a detailed explanation of how Cassius escaped the Rim. Either Diomedes and Aurae worked together, or Aurae worked independently. There’s not enough information yet to guess.

Cassius meets Pax and Electra; Pax has a celebrity crush on him but Electra is not happy, since Cassius literally murdered her grandpa.

Cassius demonstrates that he has matured as a person.

Cassius faces consequences for killing Fitchner or otherwise expresses regret for doing so.

Cassius returns to Eagle Rest. He repairs it and the city ransacked by Fa.

Lyria finds Volga and they kick Fa's ass together.

Lyria and Volga fall in love.

Volga is changed by her time with Fa, more hardened, but Lyria brings out her kindness again.

Volga gets that damn farm, and a womb, and has a child.

Volga’s heart being on the opposite side becomes plot relevant when Fa tries to kill her but goes for the wrong side of her chest.

Volga becomes queen of the Obsidian.

Valdir shows up again and joins Darrow.

Valdir is confirmed to love Darrow romantically.

Fa is being slowly poisoned by the DNA poison in Sefi after eating her heart. Alternatively, Fa does not get sick, proving he is not her real father.

Pax is involved in the war effort somehow. Maybe helping Lyria? Darrow has complex emotions about this.

Darrow is able to show Pax that he still has his hoverbike key and it's a touching father/son moment.

Darrow and Pax ride the hoverbike together again -- for fun? In battle?

Pax makes more friends his age. Diomedes' younger siblings? Baldur comes back??

Pax struggles with the weight of essentially sending Ephraim to his death; logically he knows it’s not his fault, and that Ephraim knew the risks, but by god, Pax is only a child. Darrow is able to help ease his distress with an epic dad speech or something.

Pax kicks the Abomination's ass.

The Abomination becomes good, or otherwise decides being the Jackal sucks, actually

Lilath dies for real. Painfully. But definitively.

Atlas is the big bad; a blind spot even in the Jackal's plans.

Virginia and Victra save Sevro.

Darrow and Cassius save Sevro.

Sevro is brainwashed by the Jackal and Virginia has to fix him.

Sevro learns what happened to Ulysses. Pierce Brown writes this scene in such a profoundly sad way, the entire the fandom dies instantly.

Darrow and Sevro have a heart to heart.

The Darrow/Sevro/Cassius trio do something epic again, like they did when they stole the Minerva standard in the first book. I am starving for these three.

Cassius is jealous of Darrow/Sevro. I think that would be very funny.

Virginia and Victra bash sisters moment.

Virginia and Victra actually become friends, not friends by virtue of their husbands being best friends.

Mars becomes the capital of the Republic under Virginia.

PsychoSpike tech comes back in a big way, as either a boon or a detriment to the Republic.

Victra is called on by Volga and Lyria to fulfill her promise to aid them whenever they need it.

Darrow and/or Victra will face (or at least be threatened with) consequences for the destruction of the Docks of Ganymede.

Eagle Rest becomes a campus to teach lowcolors important life skills they might lack, following what Sefi was doing for Obsidians, but expanding the idea.

Rhea is resurrected and becomes habitable again; possibly a new home for the Obsidian, depending on how the Rim ends up.

Diomedes joins the Republic/Darrow.

Diomedes is captured by Darrow's crew and comes to an understanding with them while in captivity.

Diomedes discovers Atlas' plans, which include destroying the Rim, which motivates him to join Darrow.

Diomedes becomes Sovereign of the Rim.

Aurae joins the Republic/Darrow with Diomedes. Alternatively, Aurae is revealed to be a Sons of Ares agent, perhaps one of the survivors of the SOA purge in the Rim.

In Iron Gold, Aurae played music during the dinner scene. So my predication is, if she joins Darrow's crew, she will entertain them with music. idk I just think that would be a nice moment.

Diomedes is confirmed to love Aurae (beyond Lysander assuming so for a brief sentence), or at least this is expanded on in some way.

Apollonius tries to duel Diomedes but the latter is Not Interested in a moment of comedy.

Reaperstang reunion??? Please???

We see more of the Raa family, and get to know established members better. Vela, Gaia, Diomedes' remaining siblings, etc.

Virginia, Diomedes, and Volga become a Triumvirate, ruling over Republic, Rim, and Obsidian factions respectfully, in a peaceful political alliance, rather than warring to get everyone under the same empire banner again.

Big damn Reaperstang reunion kiss.

At the end of it all, somehow Darrow's banishment is the only way to maintain peace.

Darrow is believed to be dead throughout Light Bringer, until an epic reveal at the very end. This miraculous second resurrection is why he is the Red God.

Darrow lives. He lives and he is happy. (Shh I know there is another book coming, let me have this.)

[dearmahiru-archive]

cinnamon!! got any predictions for mikoto and kotokos trial 2 cover songs?

so embarrassing that i was like "aw i wish i could think of something else to post for today" and then i shot up like a bullet going "OH NO WAIT I RECIEVED AN ASK!!!"

um uhm well. hmm. my track record for this has been 1/3 so far so i'd like to see how wrong i am! i don't think these two could get robbed out of any specific cover.

there's tons of different mikoto options i've seen and i want them all tbh. horrid that we're only allowed three when he could easily do so many more... in my perfect reality he protected mahiru from the yandere allegations and covered psychogram himself.

although, funny story with mikoto is that i was discussing potential covers with gunslingr and they said "i fear mikoto will have a chimera cover" right before i said i hope he gets one. my face literally beat red it was soooo embarrassing!!!!

even if i'm still horrified over the memory, i'll still stick to my guns and say i'd like a chimera cover. is it deserving over other songs? absolutely not! but it feels right to me. the cover art depicting miku with three sets of one's—one yanking her hair, one grasping her shoulders, and one praying—really struck me as rgbkoto. especially with the different color palettes bathing one part of her in warm colors while the other is colder (there's a similar mikoto artwork i believe?) there's also the song's name "chimera" which relates to mikoto being made up of multiple identities stitched together instead of a singlet.

the song's theme of reinventing yourself for the sake of attention and hating it also really strikes me as mikotocore. i'm not too familiar with his story just yet but from what i've gathered he struggles with maintaining this easy-going facade in order to blend in with society.

off-tapic but i'm not sure if he works for a black company but... yes, it doesn't justify murdering an innocent bystander (yet) but i will be very upset on his behalf if that turns out to be true. the industry culture of stressing your artists out, making them work overtime, drinking themselves to death, paying them pennies, and then forcing them to maintain this happy-go-lucky attitude—it drives me insane! treat your workers better asshole!!!!!

sorry had to get that off my chest >< but back to the chimera cover! if the black company theory is true then it reads to me like mikoto urging himself to wear this sweet facade whilst loathing everything around him. as an extension of monopoisoner it also has the same "you" themeing and sexual undertones.

Don’t be greedy or you'll drown in poison -> hehe monopoisoner reference

Your face looks like you're trying to suppress your EGO But watch your mouth, love how unsatisfied you are And be sure to swallow any uncouth words

Aw, I just don't know who I am I'm cute Chimera who's changed ←new??That blotchy pattern was a message I'm a pretty little Chimera made to be desired ←♡♡♡

kotoko's a bit harder because my thought process is ❤️❤️❤️ she's so cool! she'll get a cool song! and that's kind-of it.

unfortunately my knowledge of deco is mostly locked into the mvs on his main channel and utaite rachie's cover so uhm. i'm sure there's older songs perfect for her as an extension of anti-beat but dear lord i do not know them. so uh, just going to off of "kotoko would sound so wonderful singing this!!"

I KNOW!! I KNOW!! TWO BORING ANSWERS BACK-TO-BACK LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!!!

i'm honestly not a fan of reversible campaign so i'd genuinely prefer if she got 118 or another high-energy song. but hm... it once again simply feels right to me. i feel like kotoko is powerful enough to grab me by the throat and force me to like the song through sheer instrumental change and vocals. rather than mikoto where i can connect him to the entire song, it's really only these two lyrics which strike me as kotokocore:

Using my worthless ego as a pretext I just want to waver between black and white

she insists she doesn't need to be traumatized in order to act this way... she hates herself like everyone else does in the prison. even as she tasks herself as judge, jury, and executioner, i highly suspect its because no one else fought for her. the world she's in is divided between the weak and strong, nothing else. the lashing out in anti-beat slowly dies down into reversible campaign as she considers her feelings. or uh, something like that?

apart from that my absolutely copium cover desires would be theory of negativity, undead alice, ane ghost rule. i feel like those are deffo going to my/haruka/shidou but. but she'd totally slay them. god bless. alternatively for her t3 cover i hope she covers undercover it'd be iconic.

once again kotoko sits in a strange place for me because everything she does will be perfect to me. she's just so cool...!

[ambiguouspuzuma]

In my own time

I hate change. Not the coins, though they clutter up my wallet with the train tickets, receipts and everything else, but the other thing. Flux. Tumult. They're really only other words for death: the loss of what once was, and its wholesale replacement by what is. Time passing is one thing, but tolerable if it brings more of the same - not an ending, but a renewal. Change is the permanent closing of a chapter, in a book you'll never have the chance to read again.

Uncertainty is even worse. The most stressful times of my life - waiting for exam results, the follow up from an interview, an offer on a house - have all come when I couldn't see the future. When I couldn't even predict it, not even in the mundane way we chart the coming of the winter months, the way a dark cloud heralds rain. That feeling of blindness to the danger - like a wild animal in a box, unable to see the way out. My idea of happiness is knowing what tomorrow will bring.

That's why time travel suits me perfectly.

It's expensive, as coping mechanisms go, but I don't know what I'd do without it. I can barely remember those days, before the discovery - back when every day was a new beginning, when life was a long and winding road with any number of horrors lurking behind its corners. A living nightmare. Call me a time travel addict, but I'm never going back to all of that.

As you might imagine, the government were cagey about it at first - they supressed the discovery entirely, outside of official channels, and we only found out about it some time later. Even then, all private use had to be officially authorised. It was only after a few years that the floodgates opened, after they realised it wasn't the instant recipe for anarchy they'd feared.

They tried using it themselves, at first, to see how geopolitical issues would play out, and found it was largely useless. The other side had it too, you see... and so if our lot changed their behaviour because of what they saw, so would every other country in the world, and thus the outcome would change again.

They'd all spend days watching each other's shifting strategies, only to finally learn that they couldn't know the future for sure after all. It was only once they settled on a path, and their opponents likewise finalised their response, that anything was actually determined. The cat's fate would only be sealed if they opened the box and looked. You know, just like how it was before. The old-fashioned way.

It wasn't entirely useless for official purposes, though. Although there was no single future - just a complex web of potential outcomes - the government agencies could use time travel to test things, all decisions being fed into this iterative model, and arrive at the optimum outcome. It's game theory, right? Nothing is certain where other actors are at play, but there's still a right choice that you can make.

Time travel made things... better. The world became more rational, and policies improved across the board. That was especially true for the non-moving parts, external variable like climate change, which world governments could chart and mitigate as required. Anyone could see the counterfactuals, the impact of one policy versus another, and there could be no doubt about the necessity to act. Even smaller scale natural disasters could be anticipated and avoided.

Some industries struggled, like sports betting companies, but none whose loss was really mourned. They rebounded, anyway, once punters realised the same thing that the governments had: if they were looking ahead, so were the players and clubs, and that changed the result. If one team saw they were about to lose, they could change their tactics to avoid making the same mistakes, but then the other side could look into the new future and respond in turn.

In time, clubs set up whole future scouting departments to build them probability models, the likelihood of one strategy being chosen against its chances of success, and a bet on the result would all come down to those odds. Just like it used to. Again, we reverted to doing things the old-fashioned way, and the dust settled on a world that functioned more or less the same.

But that wasn't true for everyone. For me, and others in my position, the discovery changed everything: the end of uncertainty, my anxiety in the face of looming change. The advantages of time travel were pretty much restricted to personal use - with any strategy negated by its opponent, other people remained as unpredictable as ever - but that suited me just fine. I was a nobody, after all. I had no rivals, nobody who would try to shape my path against my will, and I could use it freely without fear of negation. I just wanted to see my own choices, one or two steps ahead.

That's what I do. I look forward, in my own time, to check that nothing really bad will happen. No relatives falling sick. No sudden tragedy. Things that won't change based on my viewing, meaning I can sleep more comfortably, knowing exactly what the morning brings. And, if something bad is written in the stars... well, I'm hoping that the knowledge will take some of the blow. Another day to mourn, at least. To say my goodbyes.

Forewarned is forearmed, they say, and I do feel much happier for it. I'm glad to have a life without surprises - not avoiding spoilers, but welcoming them, because nothing spoils a life like living under a shadow. Not for me, the looming dread of what may come. I have made my peace with the devil I know, and all of that anxiety is gone: I am free to relax, to enjoy my time however I want, even if I already know how that may be. Call me boring, but I prefer that to the alternative.

[batri-jopa]

I'm digging through my drafts lately so now the time has come to speak about movies that are like milestones for me:

Collateral (2004) dir.Michael Mann

I watched it for the first time in June 2021 and it became my hyperfixation, something I've been obsessed so much that... well, I literally LIVED that movie for about 4 months and I consider it changed my life's goals' perception❤️‍🔥 I've been reading all possible reviews, comments, interpretative theories... I wanted to wrote my own review and interpretation of the film.

(Just for those freaking abt actors: ppl who hate movies with Tom Cruise in it - usually make exception for the Collateral - and if THAT'S not convincing to you I don't know what is!)

Who would have guessed that the story about heartless hitman interacting with that poor random taxi driver has a potential to change a live perspective of a 35 years old person? Vincent is so inhumane I'm not even sure he deserves to be called a "character" (not more than a killer-cyborg probably) and what he says to Max about his attitude toward the world and his life and his dreams is so provocative and cruel but... it's all so freaking true. You are over 30 already and the time to act and to change your life and to fulfill your dreams is NOW! Now or never!

"Someday? Someday my dream will come? One night you will wake up and discover it never happened. It's all turned around on you. It never will. Suddenly you are old. Didn't happen, and it never will, because you were never going to do it anyway. You'll push it into memory and then zone out in your barco lounger, being hypnotized by daytime TV for the rest of your life."

Not to mention every next victim feels like another lesson in personal developement of Max (or any viewer sympathising with him), just like those lessons given to Scrooge by ghosts in A Christmas Carol. Yes, there are five of them instead of three but it's like the first case is: "wake up!" - the next: "this happens for Real!" - then "and there's nearly nothing you can do about it..." - and "...but you got to try anyway..." - followed by: "...because it's all about you right from the start!"

(One night you may need to turn your whole life upside down)

And I know some people see the last case as lame, cliche, unbelieveble, predictible or whatever - but jeez, ppl, that's how it works in a theater play! Of course it could have been predicted and so what?! It's the story about Max's character and in my opinion: that when he gets to know about his key role in all this - in a way similar to Bastian in The Neverending Story.

And I dare to say at this point it is not about any "love" or any such thing (here, take my AroAce filter): it's about a dream, that still is to be fulfilled, about a life, that could have been, about the right to be yourself and freedom to choose your way. About an urge to fight for something so important that you simply can't turn away from it anymore. About a need to defend something that feel so close and dear to you like it's your core, like it's yourself - like it was all about your life from the very beggining!

(And what if: maybe it all would never had happened if not for Max symbolic giving away his dream "island"?🤔)

I love how the provocative speech of Vincent to Max and all the uneasy questions he gives to him are meant to get him out of his comfort zone: your job is to take the client from point A to B, never before have you cared what they gonna do there, maybe all of them where going to kill or hurt somebody, so why did you not care about it ever before? Why would you care about it now? What the difference if the bad thing is happening close to you or far away from you? What's the difference if you do or do not know about it? And what actually changed in your case now - anything other than that now you know? In all this you are irrelevant, COLLATERAL, you are only a fucking meaningless, powerless cab driver! Look at you, you're not even the one to decide your own route! And if you decided to only always do your job without the second thought - then why don't you just do your fucking job right now?!

And then it's like: you can run from your problems and avoid hard decisions for just so long - there's literally no more place left to run and hide, and you got to face your greatest fear... To save a life.

Not your life though.

You'll be reminded it's NOT about you. That it's not your business. So you can simply step back and live. Just keep on being nobody, not having anything to say, not having any power over bad things happening around you. You'll be reminded that you're weak and you can keep the safe distance and remain comfortably numb just as you always used to be...

You could remain COLLATERAL

Only would you be able to live with knowing you haven't even tried?

As much as I hate guns IRL - I loved to learn about the "mozambique drill" (some fans probably breaking new record of rewatching "yo, hommies" scene over and over again) and reading other viewers' interpretations of what actually happen in the final shooting... and of why he could not or would not reload... (as a neurologist I'd vote it's bc of his brachial plexus) and finally thinking about the spontaneous act of previously non-spontanous character - winning over cold routine of the one always talking about "adapting to enviroment"... Like Max've won over him by actually learning his lessons!

This movie is filled with symbols and allegories. Starting with the silver gray Vincent: I like to compare him to a heartless cyborg T1000 from Terminator 2: The Judgement Day, or see him as an angel of death, or even - as mirror giving a dark reflection, like an evil alter-ego of the main character! (there's the allusion of policemen that a taxi driver might get rampage and kill ppl around the town - followed by Max's mother asking "Who?" like not noticing Vincent - to the point Max actually "acts" Vincent - all these priceless little hints that Vincent might not even exist in a first place...)

My own favorite interpretation is that Vincent is personification of a coyote - the spirit animal meant to teach you life lessons that are many times very uneasy but really rewarding

(And don't listen to director talking about Vincent, it seems to me that Michael Mann did not himself get any deeper meaning of this guy at all!😑 Like treating his past history seriously? Oh please, have mercy...🙄 Vincent's power derives from the fact he's so perfectly inhumane he barely touches the earth! Or at least he's the perfectly neutral transparent everyman... who's empty of emotions. And you can treat as a symbol of anything you want!😋)

The story takes place in the middle of the night - with the broad streets of the great town being almost empty - and it's such an unusual view it gives an almost dreamlike mood. Perfect time and place for a life-changing story about changing your life.

All in all this story is so brilliant someone definitely should have made a movie about it!

😆

PS. And I love the soundtrack.