#IMPLIED SPOILERS FOR FIRST VICTIM

[momentomori24]

For a character that has virtually said nothing (impressive feat considering Mark Berskii exists) and has been dead since the start, Cara is so SO intriguing to me. Her complete lack of humanity in the midst of a cast brimming with it stands out in such a fucked up way.

Take her appearance, for example. Outside of the fact that she's much paler than the group, her having redish hair feels so intentional. It physically ties her to two characters: Diana and Wolfgang's mum. By extension, that ties her to Wolfgang and Eva as well. I don't believe that she's directly tied to them, or anyone in our group really (which I think is the point). However, the links that can be tied-- that we as the audience are encouraged to tie-- still exist.

We are introduced to her as a murder victim, a girl who was brutally ambushed and stabbed to death by who is assumed to be a man. That serves as a parallel by what is implied to have happened to Wolfgang's mum; a woman who was murdered by her husband. Coupled with their vague resemblance, it explains why Wolfgang was so emotional during the trial. He's a lawyer, and it's both his job and moral code to have empathy for everyone, but it seems obvious that there was a lot of projection on his part related to this specific case. He doesn't just see a person, he sees a blameless woman, an innocent girl undeserving of her fate. A victim who had to have been sadistically murdered by a man, and "self-defence" was never on the table. He clearly cared about the case-- he cared THE MOST about the case. He was the only one to actually acknowledge that it's based on a real murder case, that the victim was a real person, and treat it with that same amount of appropriate care. But that care is rooted in his strong sense of justice for victims as a lawyer, in his own issues and warped view on gender due to his parents-- it's not entirely for her because he never actually KNEW her.

And we see her again in the execution. Quite literally like a puppet on strings, she mechanically reaches out towards Eva and offers her a hand. In my eyes, this is 100% a parallel to Diana. There's the obvious of a vaguely red haired girl being the only one to offer her support during her lowest moments, but the way Cara reaches to pull Eva up only for her to fall to her death is comparable to the way Diana reaches to pull Wolfgang up only for him to still get electrocuted to death. Here she is again, playing a different role, open to the interpretation of others. Here she is, twisting the knife about Eva's feelings about Diana. She looms over her, standing tall where Eva was at her lowest in every sense of the word. She's a girl offering help, but not out of the goodness of her heart, and the strings puppeteering her every movement emphasise that reality. Where Eva had rejected her advances before, in her desperation she actually reaches back for her, and the act of allowing herself to trust that kindness is what has her plummeting to her doom the way she was always of, the arm giving and tearing at the farce of it all.

Take her talent, for example. She's the Ultimate Teacher's Aide. By her very nature, she exists for the service of others. Uplifting others rather than uplifting herself. She's the Ultimate Teacher's Aide, and she fulfils that role by being Tozu's literal puppet in the killing game, her servitude entirely at his disposal and her autonomy nonexistant.

Take her motif, for example. She's the only character without an animal motif. Her motif, ironically enough, is a human. Two humans, in fact. And I think that's significant cuz we never actually learn anything about Cara herself when she appears. Her existence is always symbolically tied to someone else on appearance alone (Wolfgang's mum or Diana). Her motif is a human because it's the closest thing to what she looks like, but just like the Tree of Ignorance being a hollow imitation of the Tree of Wisdom, she's anything but. What do we know about her, really? What was she like? Was she a cheerful soul or a gloomy one? Was she aggressive or pacifistic? Was she someone who had confidence or none at all? Was she a perfect victim or a failed yet complicit perpetrator? The sad thing about that question is that it really doesn't matter. Her murder case is only proof of her existence that exists; history has taken this girl and reduced her to nothing else and it doesn't matter. In a group of individuals she's exists solely as a blank slate, a passive party, an entity they can project on. She's a girl. She's a victim. She's a doll. She's a reason. But make no mistake-- she was never meant to be a person.

(Cerise's made a great art piece on this idea go check it out!)

[wonderwomanpleasesteponme]

Mama might be one of Eleanor's victims

NO BODY FUCKING MOVEEEEEEEEE ITS ELEANOR HOLY SHIT -- CALING MOM WHILE IN THE PAST GIVES YOU AN ELEANOR MINIGAME?? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?????

[maxdibert]

One thing that really pisses me off is how Snaters or anti-Snape people, or whatever the hell they want to call themselves, decide to twist canon to fit Severus into their image of an irredeemable son of Lucifer whose actions are driven by absolute evil. Some of the claims they make while blatantly ignoring canon are:

Severus is resentful toward Harry because Lily chose James. False. This is one of the most common narratives that stems from the idea that Severus is a creepy, obsessive stalker fixated on his childhood friend. It's literally NOT true. Severus isn’t resentful toward James because of Lily. He has plenty of reasons to resent James that have nothing to do with Lily, such as being bullied by him for seven years, being given a horrible nickname, or being stripped in front of the entire school just because he "existed." Ignoring that James was a bully—specifically to Severus—is a way of villainizing the victim while completely disregarding the fact that this wasn’t a love triangle issue. It was a case of abuser and victim, and Severus was the victim. And seeing the face of his abuser constantly on a rude kid who keeps questioning him and recklessly putting himself in life-threatening situations is obviously triggering as hell.

Severus was an incel stalker obsessed with Lily. Since when? Severus was canonically friends with Lily years before they went to Hogwarts. They hung out together and had a friendship. He wasn’t stalking her; he was her damn friend. F-R-I-E-N-D. They stayed friends until their relationship fell apart. She cut ties with him, and he didn’t go chasing after her or spying on her. There’s no point in the canon where it’s implied that Severus was stalking Lily after their friendship ended, let alone after Hogwarts. And that nonsense about him hugging her dead body? Spoiler: THAT NEVER HAPPENED IN THE BOOKS. It’s exclusive to the movies and therefore not canon. And the “incel” accusation? Did Severus ever ask her out? Did he insult or assault her for not wanting to be his friend anymore? No, he accepted that she told him to get lost and left with his tail between his legs. That’s not incel behavior.

Severus wanted to be a hero but was selfish. False. Severus never, ever, in his life wanted to be a hero. He had a debt to himself, to his guilt over his actions, and he wanted to atone for his sins, period. Even Dumbledore questions him by asking if he really wants to hide "his best side" from others, and Severus prefers it that way. He never wanted people to see his good side or know how much he had sacrificed. He wasn’t interested.

Severus deserved the bullying he suffered because he tried to get the Marauders expelled. False, because no one deserves to be tormented by rich brats abusing their privileges out of boredom. And false because Severus didn’t want the Marauders expelled—he wanted his abusers expelled, which is entirely different and absolutely justifiable, because anyone in his shoes would want to see the people tormenting them gone.

Severus only did what he did because of Lily and his obsession. False, because first of all, it wasn’t an obsession—it was grief, guilt, and enormous remorse. And doubly false, because when Dumbledore tells him that Harry (whom Severus has literally risked his life for several times to protect out of guilt over Lily) has to be sacrificed, he still goes along with the plan. By then, he isn’t driven only by his debt to Lily but by a genuine desire to defeat Voldemort.

Snape is a murderer. False. There’s no indication in canon that Severus killed anyone besides Dumbledore, and that was euthanasia—Dumbledore himself asked for it. There’s also no evidence that he tortured anyone.

Snape was a Nazi and a racist. False. The Death Eaters are not equivalent to Nazis, and blood purity isn’t equivalent to racism. With that cleared up, Severus was literally half-Muggle because his father was Muggle, and he grew up in a Muggle environment. His early life was in a Muggle world, and he even mentions that his father disliked magic. His prejudice against the Muggle world comes from having an extremely negative personal experience, knowing only a poor, resource-starved Muggle world, with an abusive and violent Muggle father. That alone justifies his need to cling to the magical side of his heritage. Moreover, being a kid with zero financial resources, no family support, coming from a violent environment, and experiencing further bullying and ostracism at school by wealthy pure-blood kids who targeted him as their punching bag made him the perfect target for any extremist cult—especially when the future leaders of that cult were in his house, where he had to fit in or face more bullying and isolation. Ignoring all the social background of the character to push the narrative that he’s evil because he made a terrible decision at 17 is classist and prejudiced. Plus, remember that Severus spent almost 20 years serving Dumbledore. He switched sides practically right away.

[davidisnotmyname]

MAJOR FUCKING SPOILERS FOR THE SEVENTH COMIC (also this post is really long be warned)

Okay I wanted to give my thoughts on the seventh comic because I, a sleep deprived teenager with absolutely no knowledge on comic making or writing, feel that my opinion is logical and good /s

First off, my immediate reactions to the comic:

OH MY FUCKING GOD THATS A CHILD. THATS SOLDIER’S AND ZHANNA’S CHILD. THATS THEIR BABY. WHAT THE FUCK

the second I saw this shit I knew this comic was gonna give me an aneurysm (in a good way).

waitasecond…

THERESTWOOFTHEMOHMYGOD (also im so fucking happy that the joke I see in fan media a lot about Soldier naming his kids stuff like that is officially canon)(also east meets west fans were eating good this comic)

I like that the comic creators have put so much focus on Spy and Miss Pauling’s relationship. Not only is their dynamic great, but it shows that Spy isn’t a heartless jackass and he not only genuinely cares about the people around him, but can and will show it (I mean most of us knew that already but… someeeee people have fallen victim to the temptations of flanderization)

you’re gonna see this come up a lot in my rambling but I fucking love the shit the mercs are doing in the background, their expressions are so funny: Heavy is sick of their shit

Demo is asleep

Scout can’t breathe

Spy is also sick of their shit

Medic (and that godforsaken baby baboon) is sightseeing

Pyro is having the time of their life

and Sniper and Pauling are just trying to make sure they don’t all fucking crash and die

This is irrelevant as fuck (but most of the stuff I say is) but I just wanted to bring up how much I liked the secretary’s design. It’s very pleasing to look at.

They are like ants to me. I want to put them in a jar with holes in the lid and a bunch of leaves and then roll them down the stairs

I know this might not be what the scene is trying to imply, but fuck yeah, lesbianism (also thank god they gave Scout some semblance of character development, they are very cute as friends)

more background mercs. Medic and Pyro in particular have me in hysterics (this comic has so much good shit I can use for my discord pfp). Also Demoman my belemoman

GOD I FUCKING LOVE THE CHARACTER DESIGNS SO MUCH, thank you young Administrator for reminding me that I am in fact gay in every direction. RIP Admin, she served cunt and died

Get that fucking thing away from me

MAKAMI!!!!! WHAT THE FUCK!!!!! THIS SHIT BELONGS IN THE LOUVRE!!!!!!! THIS IS GENUINELY THE MOST INCREDIBLE PANEL IN ALL OF THE COMICS, I AM AWESTRUCK

Yet again more background mercs. They saw your AO3 history.

okay I was gonna say something but my phone flagged this image as nudity for some fucking reason? What

anyways, as I was saying:

GAY (guys listen it’s canon okay you have to believe me guys wait come back no wait)

also my first thought when I saw this was “heavy is trying to hold him back from doing weird shit to the corpses,” and I don’t care how anyone else interprets it because I am objectively the most correct /j

also looking back at this I’m realizing heavy’s hands are almost the size of medic’s entire torso lmao tf2 isn’t beating the yaoi hand accusations

I’m actually gonna be sick and die oh my god what the fuck is wrong with me

I’m not gonna put all of the panels cuz I feel like it’ll get annoying quick + the image limit, but the whole series of Pauling just standing there as the Admin is cosplaying a Nature Valley Honey and Oats Bar while everyone slowly trickles out of the room just hits so hard and so good. These comics are such a compelling narrative disguised as a series of shitposts and I’m all for it.

MISS P. NAME DROP???!!!!! (Also can we get an F in the chat for all the Francine Pauling truthers)

He is literally her dad I don’t make the rules (also yes I’m aware that it’s stated that he’s her legal guardian literally two panels later so this joke really isn’t funny, but none of my jokes are so what’s your point)

Yet another casual masterpiece by Makami, with the added bonus of the subject being a beautiful hairy old man who’s built like a fucking brick house. Heavy Weapons Guy TF2 I wish you were real. Also bearded heavy goes hard, i need to cook him into a fucking soup oh my god

Hey chat so did you know I’m actually going to be inconsolable for the next three years. Also this is obviously photoshopped we all know his last name is Elbertson (no but seriously I actually started running around my room and rolling on the floor when I got to yet another name drop)

Okay, I need to either say this now or have it fester in my psyche for eternity. That haircut gave me physical and psychic damage when I first saw it. Scout tf2, you’re ugly as shit but that’s honestly poggers, welcome to the club man (also oh my god he looks so much like Jerma I’m screaming, but Jerma isn’t ugly though I promise I would never diss my king like that)

Nobody talk to me

I SAID NOBODY FUCKING TALK TO ME

spy with his granddaughter, he loves her so much but still can’t bring himself to reveal who he truly is. I actually can’t fucking do this anymore this comic is gonna have me keel over and die of a heart attack

That’s it. Get in the fucking wood chipper right now /j seriously though I can’t even begin to explain how much this scene means to me. Spydad was one of the main things that got me so interested in tf2 over a year ago, and seeing him and Scout not only being civil about it, but genuinely caring about each other is everything. I’ve never been one for spydad angst (no shade if you do like it, I just personally prefer happier stuff), so I’m glad that this was the route the comics took with that plot point.

also don’t think I’m not gonna bring up the fucking mask. after seventeen years, we finally have spy’s face. Not only that, but the reveal was done through him giving it to his granddaughter. It’s done in such a casual and sweet way but it’s so impactful. He can be vulnerable around these people. This man, who’s spent his life building up walls around himself, refusing to let anyone through to the point of wearing that stinky ass balaclava everywhere, can now freely live as himself with his son and grandchildren. I’m gonna start eating screws I swear to god.

oh fuck I hit image limit hang on I have a little bit more to say check the reblogs the rest of my descent into madness will be present there shortly.

[meggtheegg]

FNAF Movie Theory...

I'm pretty sure there's still one major plot twist in the universe of the movie that's been set up for a sequel but hasn't actually happened yet. Heavy spoilers under the cut:

After watching the movie in theaters and then revisiting a few scenes on Peacock, I'm still kind of convinced that Mike Schmidt is Michael Afton.

Here's my reasoning. A lot of the characters spend time acting like they know something the audience/other characters don't, and those things are...mostly resolved. But some of them just...kind of aren't.

The main thing that sticks out to me is William's whole storyline. Starting with the scene where he offers Mike the job, his behavior is almost explained by the movie's logic. He sees Mike's name, seems...kind of deeply upset, looks at him very closely, stands to get coffee, and has a moment of visible internal conflict. Then he instantly offers him the Freddy's job. The way the movie frames this, it seems to be saying that he recognized the name of one of his victims, realized this was the kid's brother, and decided to kill him right then and there. Which is passable as an explanation, but it has a lot of holes, if you look deeper.

Why would William so instantly recognize a fairly common last name as the brother of some kid he killed that wasn't even anywhere near Freddy's? Why did he kidnap/kill Garrett in the first place, in some random forest in Nebraska? Why did he see the name on the file, then immediately stop and examine Mike's face so closely, when Mike's memories/dreams pretty clearly show that they never saw each others' faces when Garrett was taken? Why did he send Vanessa to "keep Mike in the dark" if he purposely gave him the job to get him killed? Why not have the animatronics kill him right away? He didn't know that Mike was searching for the man who took his brother, and while he could have maybe guessed he was still actively haunted by what happened based on Mike beating up a guy that he thought was kidnapping someone, it still feels like a weird choice to go and hire him, then just have him do the job with no issue for a few days.

As for Vanessa, we see that she's been cleaning up William's messes for years. Why is Mike the one she changes her mind and stands up to her father for? There's no implied romance between the two and no particularly meaningful connection beyond them both having family issues. I guess she cares about Abby because she's a kid, but kids getting hurt clearly never stopped her from helping her father before.

And, on a more meta level, this is Scott and his storytelling style we're talking about. The man puts plot twists inside of plot twists and everything always ties back into the Aftons, somehow.

So, here's my theory: I think that Mike is William's kid, but Mike's mom left Afton when he was young and remarried the man that Mike thinks is his father.

It seems convoluted and maybe cliche, but if it's true, then suddenly there's an answer to all of those questions. "Michael Schmidt" isn't exactly an eye-catching name, unless you had a kid named Michael and your ex-wife married a guy with the last name Schmidt. Garrett's kidnapping, then, becomes an act of intentional, petty revenge rather than an extremely random coincidence. Giving Mike the job and sending in Vanessa suddenly becomes about piecing together how much he knows and figuring out if he's worth trying to reconnect with or is just a threat that needs to be killed. (It feels worth noting that William is as far as I can remember the only person to call him Michael in the whole film. He also very pointedly never says "Schmidt" until he's decided to kill Mike and suddenly announces his full name out loud. If he went by Michael as a little kid, that is what William would default to calling him, but if he took the new husband's last name, that would be like like salt in the wound that he wouldn't want to voice. By finally saying it out loud, it feels like he's making the decision to fully separate himself from Mike.)

As for Vanessa, if Mike is her brother, it makes sense that he would be the person she'd turn against William to save. It would be weird for her not to tell him, but she could also be trying to protect him, in some way. There's never any mention of her mother, and it seems like it's just been her and William for a long time. Also, ending the movie with her in a coma feels like a strange narrative choice, but it makes sense if she knows information that's purposely being kept hidden for the sequel.

Of course, it could just be that the movie has kind of messy writing and I'm trying to fix it because I want there to be a deeper reason for it. Maybe there is no Michael Afton in the movies, or maybe he's off chilling and doing his own thing somewhere and we'll see him in the sequel. Only time will tell.

[bevy-obeyme]

Character Study - Lucifer, The epitome of pride and how family makes you risk everything. {{Part 1}}

— Spoiler Warning for Lessons in Original Obey Me —

Art by https://x.com/pyunrim/status/1687472597787897856 on twitter/x

As we are all aware, Lucifer was once a greatly admired Seraphim who was also God’s favourite. An ethereal angel with three pairs of wings and yet he disgraced himself - why?

First things first, we all know that even during Lucifer’s period of stay in the Celestial Realm, you’d be surprised to see he still retains most of his qualities during his 'angelic years’.

For example, during Lesson 52-3 when Satan (''Sully’’) and MC go back into the past during a dream, we meet the Seraph as shown above.

It is evident Lucifer still held a sense of pride and superiority, not afraid to exert his authority and influence to get MC and Satan to help with his bidding, as well as portraying himself to be mockingly condescending at first.

However, even Lucifer himself wasn’t opposed to breaking the rules as during Lesson 52-5 he directly goes against the rules in the library to satisfy Satan’s curiosity in books.

This conveys that Lucifer ( even with his high ranking position ) cared not for petty rules and as such wasn’t afraid to dismiss them or rule them out when it came to a favour.

Later on in the same lesson we see that same lesson that Lucifer is still quite cunning, actively playing along to the disguises Satan and MC have brought up and tricking Satan into opening a blank book that acted as a restraint.

Whilst it does not differ from what Lucifer would’ve done in the present, his goal is noticeably much more genuine and appears to be more honest of what he wanted to ascertain which was to find out if Satan was a demon and therefore if he was a danger to the Celestial Realm. In addition, we see that Seraph Lucifer is able to let go of his pride without as much struggle as he apologises to Satan without hesitation or spite. This implies that back then, pride wasn’t as powerful to Lucifer. Even if he did carry more than the average angel, it was balanced out by his honesty and genuine intent.

So we have assured that Lucifer is not much different to what he was like in the Celestial Realm, so why did he fall?

The answer is rather simple; Love. Or rather, his strong dedication to family.

The brothers were very much mischievous as they are now - Mammon was originally a troublemaker under Michael’s care who was then subdued when Lucifer took him in. Belphegor snuck off to the human world often as he was fascinated and ended up dragging Lilith along with him.

Despite the annoyance this caused, Lucifer referred to them as '’small’’ problems which Raphael was actually quick to quip at according to Lucifer. However, he confirms that he never minded and it is evident the eldest even covered for his siblings during their mishaps. Until.

Lilith met a human. We learn during Lesson 15 the history of Belphegor’s hatred for humanity and Lilith’s perish - which was linked to humans.

Falling in love with a human as an angel was heavily against the rules as celestial beings are only meant to guide humans and offer their utmost devotion to the Father (God). Having a lover would surely meddle with duties and especially that of Lilith’s choice being a human - a race both demons and angels alike deem weak and inapt.

Despite this, we see that Lucifer does not hold a bias towards his sisters’ choice as many would have and actively supported her.

He did at first put on a caring and what may have appeared stern face when he went to check on his sisters’ lover, but ultimately, it is understandable. Lucifer was the eldest and Lilith was their only sister and the youngest at that - he wouldn’t want danger to come to her if she had chosen a dangerous man to fall in love with that she could potentially become victim to which explains his protective tendencies - much like that strict father that insists to meet your boyfriend and asses him.

[it-happened-one-fic]

Any Weight - Idia

Author Notes: So I really didn't know what I was going to post today in terms of oneshots, so this happened. This fic has been sitting my google docs for quite while and honestly started out life as practice for writing Idia. I wrote this and edite it while listening to the song "Heavy in Your Arms" by Florence in the Machine. As per usual, reader is gender-neutral. I hope you enjoy!

Type: Gender-neutral reader/ sfw/ fluff with angst/ comfort/ romance highly implied/ Spoilers for Ignihyde Chapter

Word Count: 1539

Idia shifted slightly as you leaned against his back, reading some book as he farmed one of his games. And in easy, quiet moments like this, with the weight of your body resting gently against his, feeling like a silent but ever-present promise, it was easy to forget the truth of his situation. Of his life.

But Idia was cursed. It was a weighty, but simple truth that had hung over his head for his entire life. Because he’d never known a life where he wasn’t cursed.

Idia was cursed to remain chained to the Island of Woe, to S.T.Y.X., and to guard the remains of those who’d fallen prey to their own magic and dark thoughts, just like he almost had back when you’d come all the way to S.T.Y.X.’s headquarters after Grim and your friends.

Idia was also cursed to never be able to feel darkness’s embrace, which could hide even the greatest of shames, until the light inevitably came. Because his hair always shone that cold blue light on him. Never letting him hide away from the gaze of all those who looked upon him in horror or disgust and saw all of his many flaws.

Idia was even cursed by his own personality. Unable to tolerate being around others without shutting down and drowning in their silent gazes. Judgmental, fearful, and sometimes pitying, no matter how he felt about it.

It was disgusting, infuriating, and so many other things that left him filled with ire towards anyone and everyone who didn’t understand him or his life. If they were going to gawk at him, then he would mock them for their naive, stupid views, and avoid them. There was no use in bothering with people who would never care.

After all, his life had been decided for him from the very moment he’d been born.

And all of those reasons, as well as so many others, were why he’d pushed you away initially. A laughable thought now, considering you were sitting on his bed, with your back pressed to his in a gentle reminder of your presence that, rather than causing him to tense like so many did, made him relax into the silence that rested easily between the two of you.

But when he’d first met you, he never would have imagined this. Not with how you’d seemed so strange. 

A weirdo, to be sure, with the way your gaze had never held that crushing weight that threatened to smother him that so many others had.

Some person from another world who apparently had far greater concerns than a flame-haired freak that lived in some other dorm. And, to an extent, Idia had been able to respect that.

It had quickly become obvious that you were more than just a weirdo, though. If nothing else, you were capable of handling and surviving numerous overblots. And even as he was getting to know you, it had already been clear to Idia that you were capable of so much more than him.

And that was still clear to him even today. Because if he was a curse, then you were more akin to a blessing.

A blessing who stepped in and stopped overblots from destroying their victims rather than studying the remains of those who were already done for.

A blessing who could see people at their very worst, and still accept them.

And finally, you were a blessing in that you had a personality that was like a balm to introverts. A person he could just be himself around without having to be surrounded by the multitude of people who’d already noticed your calming demeanor.

In reality, Idia knew you weren’t a blessing. Something so good could never survive in a school like this one. And he’d experienced firsthand exactly how much of a pest you could be.

But even with that knowledge, there were still moments when you were like a protagonist with the way you stood out so glaringly from the crowd.

Of course, Idia stood out from the crowd as well, but never in a remotely good way. 

At odds with this, your only supposedly negative quality was that you lacked magic. And while it did make your life a pain sometimes, you never let it bother you. Not like how Idia let his negative qualities and anything he lacked burden him.

And it was a heavy burden. A heavy burden that Idia knew made him equally heavy and unpleasant to be around. Because Idia was no fool. He knew his presence, his friendship, and even his very existence was a weighty one. He could easily drag a person down to their doom with the curses that trailed after him, like an entourage that couldn’t and wouldn’t go unnoticed.

And all of those reasons, plus a myriad of others, were why your presence here, with him, right now ought to be strange. But it wasn’t. In fact, it was perfectly normal for you to hang out with him in the solace of his room. Sometimes gaming with him, and sometimes just doing your own thing in silent companionship.

The selfish part of him clung to both you and your presence even as he continued to face his game in silence. 

Were he just a bit bolder, it would be easy to imagine himself turning to face you and wrapping his arms around your neck, with his fingers curling around your temple as if they could crown you as he cradled you to him.

But what could he ever crown you with other than the knowledge that you deserved far better?

It was his way of betraying you, and he knew that. His betrayal was one of the reasons he never tried to cross the dotted line that strained to keep you and him from growing any closer. Similarly, it was the reason the silence remained between the two of you as Idia pondered all of the oddities that were your relationship with him.

Because you supported him. Embracing him in your arms like he was weightless, rather than the way he knew he had to be a chain tangling itself around your ankles, threatening to trip you up and drag you down.

But you didn’t let him sink, and you didn't get pulled down by him. 

It was like you were a hero in some tropey anime. Willing to plunge into the very deepest of sorrows and pull him out. Never fearing the chances of drowning in the deep darkness of his curses, but also not shunning the light that revealed all. Good and bad.

Or if you did fear it, you didn’t let that fear hold you back. And perhaps that thought was even more alarming. Because that meant you cared about him enough to not let fear hold you back.

Either way, you seemed to just accept both his good and bad traits. Taking it all on with a smile not unlike the one you’d worn when you’d first forced your way into his life.

You’d shrugged off his moody words and met his gaze with your smiling one, “Nobody’s perfect, and it’s not like you’re the only guy at NRC who has overblotted or has caused me problems.”

You were definitely still a strange one, but Idia could no longer view that strangeness as bad. How could he when you could somehow look at the chains that surrounded him, binding him to his curses and doing their best to condemn him and those he chose to tie himself to, and smile in the face of it all? 

But as frustrating as your strange but oddly charming weirdness was, it made him want to do better.

To support you just like how you supported him. To let you know that even in this world that was not your own, you weren’t alone.

If you could willingly walk into that never-ending light that constantly showed his every weakness to the entire, unforgiving, and uncaring world, then he would hide you in the darkness and carry you when it hurt too much.

Because he knew it hurt, even if you hid it well with that smile that only seemed to truly fail you when you were facing an overblot or when the mention of your home came up.

Even if you were strong enough to carry him and all his curses, Idia knew it hurt and that the nights were long for you. 

In fact, it was obvious to him.

Because that weight you carried was why, even after having made friends and forged yourself a family, you still sought your own world. And he recognized that weight’s presence. How could he not when he was all too familiar with carrying a burden all his own?

But you would never be too heavy for him. Not when he was used to carrying the weight of his own curses.

He could carry you, and you would never drag him down. In fact, he doubted your feet would ever even touch the ground. Because, just like how the weight of you leaning against him was more of a comfort than a burden, he knew that, if it was you, he could carry any weight.

[1moreff-creator]

Imagine Project Eden's Garden Chapter 1 but the victim and killer are reversed.

Alright, I’ve imagined it. Thanks for the ask!-

Ok no, I’ll give a proper answer ‘cuz this seems like fun xD I ended up writing a lot more than I’d imagined damn.

Spoilers for P:EG CH1. CW: Murder, stabbing, manipulation, mention of hallucinogenics

I guess the first big question is how exactly we get to a position where Wolfgang actually wants to kill Eva, and presumably want to get away with it so that the trial doesn’t last only two seconds.

The option I’ll go with is to stick to canon for the most part; Wolfgang goes down to the boiler room at 8:15, and Eva ambushes him. However, in this hypothetical, Eva doesn’t manage to hit him with the rolling pin, and instead Wolfgang defends himself, stabbing her in the heart. He makes his escape, keeping the note he received about meeting in the boiler in his pocket.

He’s probably covered in blood by this point, so he’d probably try to make it back to his room without seeing anyone in the hall. Let’s say he manages to do that, changes, washes off the blood, and quickly hides the bloody clothes under his bed or something (no one’s gonna check his room this time ‘cuz he’s not dead). I’ll say he left the knife at the crime scene, though, ‘cuz why not.

Now, before we move on, I have to say that this is twisting Wolfgang’s character quite a bit. I think he’d feel bad about killing Eva, though he’d try to assure himself he’s in the right because Eva tried to kill him and that makes her the irredeemable murderer and not him, or something like that.

However, I’m really not sure he’d actually try to win the trial. Maybe he’d try to convince Tozu to let it slide because it was self-defense, but we know that wouldn’t fly, and I don’t think Wolfgang would push further. However, for the sake of the hypothetical, let’s say that Wolfgang’s ambitions of greatness push him to self-preservation at all costs, so he tries to win the trial. I think that’s also fairly possible, maybe.

With that established, let’s move on to body discovery! While the gaming crew would probably look around for Eva when they notice she never came to set stuff up, the first discoverer would likely be Diana, going to the boiler at 8:45 because of the note she received. She becomes a suspect because of that, but in the trial, Damon and a few others are quick to make the others turn their attention to the crime itself before pointing fingers.

That would also include Wolfgang himself, believe it or not. While Eva was decent at being a blackened, Wolfgang would probably be even better. So, what’s his strategy?

I think Wolfgang would try to spin a narrative that paints Eva as some form of hero. Since Diana was her roommate, he could argue that Eva managed to read the letter Diana received before the day of the murder, and that she may have gone down to the boiler room to case out the scene and make sure Diana wasn’t walking into a trap. He’d argue that the presence of the battery, the hallucinogenic (which I’ll say was already in the boiler room and Eva wasn’t carrying it around to facilitate some things), the extension cord in the vent, the taser, etc., all implied the killer had a more elaborate method in mind, before Eva walked in on them and started a fight. The presence of two weapons in the crime scene reinforce the idea of a fight.

Why would Wolfgang do all this? To get emotional. If he paints Eva as a fallen hero, he can pretend to despise her killer with the same intensity as he hated the killer from the prologue trial. He’d act melancholic about Eva, pretending to regret ostracizing her now that he knew she truly cared about Diana. He’d shout about how the killer deserves death, for trying to kill someone as nice as Diana, only to then kill the person who tried to protect her. It’s a compelling narrative, that the others would love to believe for its simplicity and emotional weight. Diana especially, since she’d love to believe Eva really cared that much about her.

But why? Why would Wolfgang do this? Because he desperately needs to convince one specific person not to speak. He needs to make one specific person believe in his innocence wholeheartedly, for if this person were to ever think Wolfgang might be the killer, then their testimony could end the trial in one fell swoop.

And that person is Toshiko.

Because Toshiko saw Wolfgang leave his room at a time close to the time of death, and he said he was going to the gaming tournament. Since he never showed up there despite being very clearly alive, that immediately casts doubt as to where he actually was, and then he’s cooked.

Grace’s testimony isn’t damning on its own; Wolfgang could have been genuinely sick in the morning, only to get better later. It’s only with Toshiko’s testimony that his sickness comes into doubt, after all. As for Ingrid hearing Toshiko and Wolfgang talk, Wolfgang could say that happened in his room and that Toshiko just saw him walking past, and Toshiko would go with that based on their agreement. That’s why Toshiko’s testimony is the most important here.

So, right as the investigation starts, Wolfgang would pull Toshiko aside, and tell her not to spill the beans. He’d come up with some excuse for his lie about where he was going (maybe he’d say he wanted to meet with someone to discuss the motive, and he was worried she’d try to eavesdrop), and ask her to hear out what he had to say in the trial before telling anyone else what had happened that morning. He’d tell her that her testimony would only confuse people, because there’s no way Wolfgang’s the killer, right? So don’t say anything. And she’d oblige, because everyone loves Wolfgang! No way he’s lying!

And once he gets the story about Eva being a hero going, Toshiko would probably convince herself that Wolfgang hates the killer too much to be the blackened, and would continue to oblige with the vow of silence, for a while. This is the main purpose of Wolfgang’s narrative.

As for who Wolfgang would push as the blackened, uh. It needs to be someone without an alibi at 8:15, so while Damon (the first possibility I thought of) is more or less on the table, it’d have been risky for him to leave when Kai was still asleep. I think going for Wenona would be Wolfgang’s best bet, as he could argue her cutthroat attitude as the Ultimate Entrepreneur would make her the likeliest to kill first. I’m assuming here Wenona’s alibi doesn’t stretch to 8:15 btw, but I’m not sure we know that for certain.

However, the blackened never wins. Wolfgang’s narrative would fall apart when Damon points out a glaring issue with his story; Eva’s tablet. Although they’d have no idea where the tablet came from, the fact is, Eva had it (uh, let’s say she was already carrying it around in her pocket okay?), not the blackened. This is a problem because it means Eva had no reason to go down to the boiler room to “case the scene,” as Wolfgang would be arguing. She’d just check the cameras.

From there, Damon is quick to realize that Eva herself was probably the one planning the crime with the battery, based on the rolling pin. While I doubt he’d want to figure out the entire mechanism behind Eva’s plan, he’d at least figure that using a rolling pin to knock someone out was more likely to be part of said plan than using a knife to do literally anything. That would further imply Eva was the one with the plan, and that the killer was the one who likely acted in self-defense.

With that established, the cast comes to the conclusion that Eva must have also sent the killer a card similar to the one Diana received, where Eva threatened them based on their secrets. This narrows down the possible killers to those who had never talked to the person who received their secret; based on this, we can eliminate Toshiko, Grace, Ingrid, Jean, and possibly a few others based on what conversations happened offscreen. Adding in the already discussed alibis, the suspects start getting narrowed down.

Because of that, Toshiko speaks up, saying there’s something she’s been keeping secret, but she isn’t sure she should anymore. This is probably where the logos/pathos path split is; Damon has to convince Toshiko to speak up either through a logical argument or by appealing to her emotions. Toshiko obliges, gives her testimony of her chat with Wolfgang in the morning, and also says he told her not to tell. There’s some angst here with Toshiko presumably being very scared while saying all of this, as she is betraying Wolfgang’s trust, but we’re kinda skipping that.

The cast starts freaking out here, obviously. Some are mad at Toshiko for concealing info, Ingrid’s defending her, people are trying to steer back the trial, some are saying Wolfgang’s the killer 100%, some are trying to say he couldn’t have possibly done it, all the bullshit. Wolfgang’s now trying to gun for Damon (let’s say Kai had talked to his person about his secret so we can rule him out), claiming his alibi isn’t good enough. However, Damon defends by bringing up that he can’t have washed off fast enough after a murder at 8:15 to then pretend to go back to sleep for Kai’s awakening at 8:30, at least when taking into account travel time between boiler and his room.

With all the secrets and the alibis, slowly Wolfgang starts seeming like the only real possibility. The Argument Altercation with him starts when he claims that Eva herself had had his secret, but she had asked him to keep that conversation secret at all costs, so he was just honoring her wishes. This would rule him out as stated before, but it’s obviously a desperate gamble that would only work if Eva genuinely had his secret, or if the person who had his secret didn’t call him out on it, but it’s all he has. The Argument Altercation ends with Damon epically revealing that he’s the one that received Wolfgang’s secret, and that he absolutely never talked to him about it. The trial doesn’t last very long after that.

The cast would obviously be devastated after this, because Eva tried to kill someone and Wolfgang not only killed her, but also wanted to kill everyone else to save himself. I think Wolfgang would end up trying to tell the others not to fall in the same pit of despair as he had when he realized what killing Eva meant. He hadn’t meant to kill her, after all, and he genuinely wanted (most of) the group to stay together. This leads to Diana doing the same chameleon speech as she did in canon, though with different wording and promises. Overall, it’s hard to talk about changes past this point, as we don’t even know how canon will go, but I imagine Damon’s, Diana’s and Toshiko’s character arcs would be greatly affected because of everything that happened. Damon would get worse if the others keep idolizing Wolfgang even after that (which could genuinely happen), Diana wouldn’t be using Wolfgang as a role model so much, and god fucking knows what kind of trust issues Toshiko would develop after all that.

That’s all from me, hope it was fun. Thanks for the ask, this was a really interesting thought exercise!

[jubileedeeznuts-posting]

implied chapter three victim spoilers

“…Please, please let him into heaven. He’s a good person, he really is,” / a heavenly mirage

TRIAL TOMORROW!!! It’s gonna be my first proper live trial I’m so hyped. My mate got so invested in my ramblings about tetro and it was finally chapter three, specifically the chapter three case, that hooked him in so we’ve spent yesterday and today watching tetro together to get him caught up so he can watch the trial live. We’re on day 17 and he’s deadarse about to pull an all-nighter to finish it. The tetro agenda spreads.

[joejhang]

my problem with raven!neil

this may be controversial but i've actually found that i don't rlly like raven!neil fics and aus. and here is my thesis. spoilers ahead continue at ur own risk.

crucial distinction here is that i don't actually dislike the concept of "raven!neil" as an individual character concept. i think it's actually very interesting to look into the sort of person neil would be if things had been slightly different. that is, obviously, the point of au fics and headcanons. my actual problem with raven!neil is mostly when fic writers and the fandom in general put him in context and into au fics and then the problems start arising. i'm being purposefully vague but i'm gonna go into all the problems i've come across when it comes to raven!neil.

first off, and this is something i've mentioned before, i think the fandom tends to strip abuse victims (particularly the characters who got out of the nest) of literally any agency or individuality. this happened with jean, when the whole fandom seemed to collectively uwufy him as if he isn't an adult (yes he's young yes he's barely an adult but he IS and i would argue thinking of him as a child still does him no good) with massive amounts of trauma. yes, jean has a learned fear of riko and tetsuji (and coaches by extension bc of the abuse from raven coaches) but he actually doesn't harbour much fear towards anyone else? he has come to expect violent retribution/punishment and does sort of have this problem where he bares his throat for the knife (when he puts the racquet in rhemann's hands and when he expects laila to hit him back) but other than that he actually doesn't demonstrate a lot of fear or panic when engaging with others.

i think the same would go for neil. the neil in current canon quite literally has no fears that do not trace back to his father. he doesn't fear riko, tetsuji, ichirou, andrew, drake or even lola and his father's men. where he does show fear is whenever his father gets involved. he isn't afraid of riko or anything riko has to say until riko brings nathan wesninski into it. the closest thing he comes to fear for anyone else is when he flinches from wymack but i'd call that survival instinct rather than like...fear. he doesn't have much of an emotional response, just an instinctual and physical one.

we obviously have no idea how neil's fear would develop if he had grown up at the nest. i'm not sure how much of a difference it would've made, honestly. obviously, those eight years on the run heavily reinforced his fear, so i don't really know where that fear would go if he was stagnant at the nest and confirmed (?) to be safe from his father. i think one of neil's key personality traits actually is his bravery and fearlessness, so i can't really see neil ever being truly afraid of tetsuji and riko. if you want to compare jean and neil in this aspect, all i'd say is: people have different responses for trauma. neil is not jean 2.0 or vice versa. even if they were put in virtually the same environment with the same treatment, they are still different people with different personalities. thus, they respond in different ways. just like jean and kevin responded in different ways, though their situations are implied to have been very different.

besides the point of fear and object of fear, i don't actually think being afraid of ur abusers means ur a baby that should be coddled and uwufied by the fandom. it's actually completely normal and human, so i actually have no clue why the fandom decided to do this with jean.

as someone in the tags of one of my previous posts so aptly said, autonomy ≠ agency. did kevin and jean have autonomy in the nest? no. but they did have agency. stripping abuse victims of agency and personality is actually so harmful and i think it's way too normalised in fandom culture. but that's a discussion for another day. we've all heard the comparison of the fear responses in relation to andrew (fight), neil (flight), kevin (freeze) and jean (fawn). i actually think these are mostly accurate, but it doesn't do any good to simplify it so completely.

neil having to remain sedentary rather than running away and never stopping or looking back is inevitably going to alter his responses to situations. neil's knee-jerk reaction to traumatic events or news in the og trilogy is literally: go on a run. this might still be the case in the nest, but i doubt it. i've said before that i think neil is the type of person to fight back. u could argue in response to that that jean was also fierce and angry when he got to the nest but developed something akin to learned helplessness where he simply stopped fighting back as a trauma response. but again: neil and jean are not the same person. they may have similar personalities, but everyone is different. you can't boil down all the victims of a particular abusive situation into the same person. this is stripping them of agency and individuality, once again. jean learned to stop fighting back and even ask for violent punishment for "wrongdoing" but i honestly don't think neil would. again, not because he's superior or inferior to jean, he's just a different person entirely. his time at evermore in trk was effectively a trial run for the time that riko intended neil to spend there after the year ended. we don't know exactly, but it's probably safe to assume that riko tried to cram as much of the abuse that kevin and jean received over several years into those two/three weeks. i mean, neil got fucking waterboarded and handcuffed to the bed for fuck's sake. i think at some point neil does say that he bowed his head and played at subservience, but when it really came down to riko and tetsuji trying to force neil to do something he adamantly did not want to do (sign the raven's contract) he literally just refused and didn't relent even under torture. jean even said he thought riko might've killed neil for it. neil was literally ready to die rather than bend to riko's will.

obviously, things would be different with kevin and jean in the equation. i can see neil reining himself in for their sake, but this brings me to another issue i have with raven!neil. and that is the strange need to turn neil into a protector figure. i.e. a human meat shield with a martyr complex for kevin and jean. every time i sense any iteration of this in any fic or hc i literally have to stop reading. it's just so...like random to me. neil has literally not been a "protector" in canon in fact he's almost always the one being "protected" (andrew's deal to literally protect neil from his father, wymack and abby's protectiveness, etc). yes, neil has protective instincts but so does literally every human being. neil is, in my opinion, no more or less protective than anyone else. compare this to say, andrew, who is known for his role as the "protector" (beating up the guys who hurt nicky, killing aaron's mother + getting rid of his addiction, making deals w kevin + neil). i've also written another extensive essay about why neil isn't and will never be the martyr or sacrificial lamb that some ppl seem to want him to be, so i won't go into it here. just please please please read the series back and realise: neil is quite literally the opposite of a martyr. i just have no idea where the idea of neil as a martyr or protective figure came in. especially in regards to kevin and jean.

it bears noting the first time neil meets riko with kevin there. at kathy's, neil doesn't hesitate to defend kevin and clock riko's shit. but note: defending ≠ protecting. and even if you do want to call that protecting, neil's way of "protecting" has never been in a martyring, self-sacrificial, human shield way. he is almost always on the offensive (clocking riko rather than directly defending kevin, punching riko, etc etc). neil is a natural instigator, and it would be such a disservice to him to erase that characteristic of his in raven!neil fics.

there are also several times in the series where neil's offensive actions have consequences that directly impact his loved ones and other people. like the first time neil insulted riko, a man literally died. the second time, drake attacked andrew. the third, neil took a trip to hell on earth and spent three weeks at evermore. the fourth, the foxes' and other athletes' cars got trashed. there's probably more that i'm not remembering, but you get the idea. neil feels guilt but never regret for this. he literally says verbatim that he isn't sorry for what he said about riko/the ravens even after the cars get wrecked and the others seem to blame him. so while i can see neil ducking his head and submitting to prevent jean/kevin getting hurt, it's also worth noting that if neil really cared that much about consequences, he probably would've stopped openly and loudly insulting riko in public after seth was murdered the first time. neil knew, or at least had a hunch, that it was his fault. did that stop him from doing it again? hell no. it can be both a character flaw and strength, but it's also just a fact. neil does not think that much about consequence. he sort of just does what he wants when he wants. it's a part of his personality. while there's no telling what about his personality would've changed at the nest, the fact that ten years living with a mob boss serial killer and eight years on the run from said mob boss serial killer didn't seem to kill that mouth of his, idk what would.

my final point is that when the raven!neil fic has andreil in it, it turns into andrew "saving" neil from his situation. words can't explain how much i hate this take on things. especially when it usually comes out of nowhere as well. bfr, andrew is not gonna risk his life to "save" some pretty redhead that comes his way without some pre-established connection. i also just think the idea of a "saviour" in a relationship is actually insane. as someone who is consistently pissed off and triggered by imbalance in relationships, this irritates me to no end. andreil obviously are protective and care for each other. that's a known fact. but i feel like w raven!neil fics they tend to exaggerate this and make it insanely one-sided. like andrew is some superhero type figure that needs to save damsel-in-distress neil who has a penchant for out-of-character martyrdom and is trapped in a horribly abusive situation. it sounds like i'm just hyperbolising no this is actually in all of the raven!neil fics that i've read. this exact dynamic. i hate it oh my god. it's not only entirely out of character i don't even think it works for them. like this should not be what their relationship is about or based off of. this last bit might just be a personal thing but i just hate hate hate it and it feels so wrong to force andreil into this kind of a dynamic. just leave my boys alone i'm BEGGING.

the aftg fandom does have this problem that should be addressed where they tend to coddle and uwufy abuse victims (particularly kevin, neil and jean in the context of the nest) and strip them down to easily digestible stereotypes. but this literally could not be further from the truth in canon. y'all forget how actually bitchy neil, jean and kevin are as individuals. kevin's fear of riko and tetsuji is bone-deep, but that never stopped him from picking fights with the foxes and hitting back whenever they had a problem w him (the only exception being andrew, but kevin already said, he lets andrew walk him like a dog out of sort-of thanks that andrew is letting him stay at psu). jean is also sort of an asshole (affectionate) back in the og trilogy and lowk in tsc too. he has a seemingly endless supply of insults for literally everyone and literally thinks about breaking jeremy's fingers for treating him too warily. he consistently gets annoyed when the trojans are too careful with him and remember when he literally threw jeremy to the floor during practice? yeah. seriously, stop boiling down these very traumatised individuals to their fear and history of abuse and erase any other part of their personality that makes them an interesting, well-rounded individual. it's so irritating to read and have to deal with the gross misinterpretation and mischaracterisation of these very well-loved characters. they deserve better, and these things also bely some very pertinent issues within fandom culture at large that should be talked about and critiqued more. jesus this is long anyway thank you for reading.

[resurrectionist3]

Question for the Heretic (2024) fandom

- Spoilers for sure so be careful -

I’ve been thinking about this every since i watched the film. Everything about it, even the ending, i think i understand and have a grasp of. But there’s one thing slipping me and its been bothering me for almost a week now.

Right before Paxton and Barnes choose the door they’re going to walk through, as a final attempt at getting on Mr. Reed’s good side, Sister Paxton laughs and says “you have a beautiful house Mr. Reed. Did you build it yourself?” Or something along those lines.

Mr. Reed smiles and says “My wife built it.”

Up until this point, it’s understood that any time Mr. Reed mentions his wife, he’s lying. From the start, he was lying about having a wife and her being home with him to make the girls comfortable enough to go inside. And that leads to the blueberry pie candle that tricked the girls into thinking his “wife” was actually baking a pie. Any time his wife is mentioned, he’s lying.

So when he says that “his wife” built the house, what does that MEAN??? Surely someone had to make the house the way it was and it’s mainly implied throughout the rest of the film that Mr. Reed did all of that. I mean who else would have need for a layered torture basement, lights and locks set to timers, and a room made entirely to look like the inside of a church?? Its not like he bought it like that…

And then after going through the doors when the prophet first enters with the pie, Barnes and Paxton (and me too honestly) thought for a minute that she was Mrs. Reed. Maybe she was at one point but i feel like if that were the case, that would have been a big reveal. But Reed only ever refers to her as “The Prophet” and then of course she dies and gets quickly replaced.

Then i started to wonder whether or not he meant it figuratively. If he did have a wife once, maybe something happened to her or something she did or said in the past led him to do all his research to discover the One True Religion. So then when he says “my wife built this house”, it really means that her existence and/or past actions led him down this path, and her indirectly creating and becoming the foundation for “this house” or for his ideologies and the reasons for his actions (hopefully that makes sense).

Or maybe he was messing with them. At this point, the girls know that theres no wife. And Reed knows that they know. So is him saying “my wife built it” just a rude jab at them? Or a joke? But then whats the point of that other than to be weird and confusing (thats very on brand for him though, I cant even lie). And again, what does it mean?? Is it his way of saying “well duh obviously i built it. Who else do you think, my wife?” That would’ve been funny if he said that but he didn’t say it like that. So im inclined to believe that its not like that.

After that point with the prophet, there’s genuinely no other significant mention of a “wife” for Mr. Reed.

Another thing that struck me as odd was the constant reminder of his lie. Him drinking from the cup and mug that say “hubby” and yet no paired ones that say “wifey”. He wears a wedding ring, and i can accept that he does all of that to trick his victims. But even at the end of the film when he’s clinging to life and crawling across the basement trying to get to Sister Paxton, Mr. Reed is STILL wearing the ring. Clearly the facade has been broken, he doesn’t need to trick anyone anymore so why not take the ring off? It just feels so intentional to me for him to have it on the entire time, especially when the mention of his wife (or lack thereof) was so significant at the beginning.

As you can see, it’s been absolutely killing me. I’m probably looking way too far into it, and no one else seems to be that interested in this single line. But in a movie like this (and any A24 film to be so honest) EVERYTHING feels intentional. Especially the script. So there’s no way this just doesn’t mean anything. So if anyone has anymore insight that would really be beautiful and beneficial to my mental health because this is seriously driving me crazy.

Hey also also… why does no one have a first name in this film? Whats that about.

[billyrussoapologist]

Reflections: What exactly is “the darkness” in Nosferatu (2024)?

A theory as to why individual characters seem to experience Orlok’s presence differently

TRIGGER WARNING! Descriptions of SA are mentioned in this text. If you’d like to skip past the descriptions, skip over paragraph 2, centered around Thomas. There are other mentions of SA in here, but they’re only mentions. I also talk about depression, grief, guilt, and trauma, as general experiences. All of these things are personal interpretations of the meaning of this movie.

SPOILER ALERT!

I don’t see many people really unpacking Nosferatu, so I’d like to take a swing at it. I’ve been wondering why Orlok’s influence has a different impact on each of the movie’s central living victims. Thomas (Nicholas Hoult), Ellen (Lily Rose Depp), and Friedrich (Aaron Taylor Johnson). The movie’s tagline is “succumb to the darkness,” and I think each character is meant to represent different “darknesses.”

Thomas’s storyline is a heavy-handed, arguably-not-even-veiled allegory for SA. When he first arrives at Orlok’s castle, Orlok encourages him to drink. After Thomas cuts his finger, Orlok tells him to sit by the fire. Orlok approaches Thomas and he is horrified. He wakes up the next morning lying face down on the floor with his clothes on but disheveled. He has marks on his chest (bite marks) and appears disturbed, confused, in extreme distress. There is later a scene of Orlok pinning Thomas down on a bed, and sucking his blood. Thomas attempts to kill Orlok in his sleep, but Orlok stands, naked, and Thomas runs away in horror. There is then a scene where Orlok, naked, lays on top of Thomas, moving rhythmically as he sucks his blood. Later, when he’s back home, Ellen lays her head on Thomas’s chest, and he pushes her away, Orlok flashing before his eyes. When trying to talk about what Orlok did, Thomas says he can’t even say it. Considering all of these events, I would argue the SA isn’t even supposed to be implied, it’s flat out SA in addition to the vampire aspect.

Ellen’s storyline can be interpreted multiple ways and also contains several heavy allusions to SA, but that’s not the one that jumped out to me, personally. She mentions being shunned by her father at a young age. The opening scene is her praying for help. She cries often, has extreme anxiety being separated from her husband, is constantly fighting an internal battle. Her actions/reactions feel out of her control, to the point where she can’t even feel pain. She believes Frederick hates her, she thanks Anna for being her friend, she asks if evil comes from within. Admittedly, I could be projecting, but Ellen’s storyline feels reminiscent of depression. Again, Ellen’s storyline has clear implications of SA, and I don’t mean to undermine that. But for the sake of explaining why Orlok’s influence affected characters differently, I am limiting characters to individual allusions. And, of course, there are many different ways depression can manifest. But Ellen is clearly a character struggling with mental health issues. She displays feelings of unreasonable guilt and works hard at trying to “be happy.”

Friedrich represents grief. This one is mostly self explanatory, I think. Grief can drive someone mad, especially when it’s born out of a traumatic event. “If I just did this differently, or that…” The would’ve, could’ve, should’ve’s can drive someone crazy. Like Ellen, Friedrich feels unreasonable guilt. Even though he was under a sleeping spell and couldn’t have done much to help, guilt isn’t an easy feeling to ration away. Ultimately, (I believe, though it’s unclear) he takes his life.

So, Thomas is trauma, Ellen is depression, Friedrich is grief. Orlok gives them unique horrific experiences that they must battle with, which is why his influence affects each character differently. Each person has a different idea of what so-called “darkness” is. Ellen wrestles with feelings of being seduced and also repulsed by Orlok. Someone suffering depression could feel it’s a “part” of them (even though that’s untrue!), while simultaneously recognizing it’s hurting them. Orlok’s presence hits Friedrich like a train. It’s sudden, and horrific. It’s consuming, ruthless. Much like grief. Thomas shuts down. He struggles severely to even say out loud what happened to him. He feels great shame (even though he shouldn’t, it’s never ever the victim’s fault!), and he’s confused and disoriented, feelings common with survivors of SA.

If you read any of this, thank you for listening! I fully acknowledge that this is an imperfect theory, but I’ve been thinking a lot about it and I think it could at least somewhat explain these differences. If you have any explanations/interpretations, please share, I’d love to hear!

[maxdibert]

Snaters are so annoying. One of them said this as a response to me saying that James sa'd him: that he did it with the spell Snape created – implying what? That it’s Snape’s karma? Next, they said that the "prank" was Snape’s fault 'cuz he followed them around and wanted to reveal Remus as a werewolf. Another thing – that Snape was only spying and repenting on Dumbledore’s orders and the fact he was forced by Dumbledore to do good, so it's not really his actions. That Snape had friends (Avery and Mulciber) just like Harry, so they had the same life at Hogwarts, and that his "rivalry" with James was similar to Harry’s and Draco's rivalry. Ughhh they’re so annoying, I need a break from them.

Thank you for your blog, you’re giving me hope there’s still common sense in this fandom.

They're just bullshit excuses to justify hating the character. You can dislike a character without resorting to victim-blaming, gaslighting, or minimizing everything they did—but they don’t know that. Their cognitive dissonance is too strong.

First of all, just because you own a candy shop doesn’t mean you’re responsible for kids getting cavities, just like inventing a spell doesn’t make you responsible for people using it against you. If it hadn’t been that spell, it would’ve been another. If James hadn’t used Levicorpus, he would’ve found something else to humiliate him in front of everyone and make his life miserable.

Second, Severus could have just told Dumbledore about Voldemort and the prophecy, walked away, and left them all to their fate. But he didn’t. He stayed, faced the consequences, and actively worked for the “good guys,” who not only failed to appreciate it but treated him like trash. The guy literally sacrificed his freedom and his life to help people who didn’t just take him for granted but outright despised him. Personally, I would’ve told them all to go to hell, so honestly, that seems pretty ethical to me.

And as for the whole "rivalry" thing—it’s a take from people who have no fucking clue how power dynamics work. A rivalry happens between people who are either on the same level or at least somewhat close. Severus and James were on completely different levels, with a massive power imbalance between them. For starters, James was a coward who never attacked alone, and on top of that, he had way more power than Snape in every possible way.

But whatever, they’re just going to keep spewing the same bullshit because they don’t actually have solid arguments, so they just repeat nonsense hoping that if they say it a thousand times, it’ll magically become true.

Spoiler: It won’t.

[spnjediavenger]

I Can Do This (matt murdock x sister!reader)

Title: I Can Do This

Type: one-shot; matt murdock x sister!reader, some peter parker x reader

Warnings: canon-typical violence/situations, sibling arguments

POSSIBLE TRIGGER WARNINGS: implied past trauma/victimization but not specified, mentions/theme of sex trafficking PLEASE DO NOT READ IF ANY OF THIS COULD BE TRIGGERING TO YOU

Spoilers: none?

Notes: MY FIRST REQUEST! I'M SO HAPPY! I hope I did your request justice, anon! I kind of got carried away...O.o

Ik this is a similar situation as the intro to S1 but i imagine this being a little later on since matt has his suit (also may or may not be a similar theme i’m introducing into my Night Wraith fic…O.o)

As always, love and/or constructive/friendly criticism is welcome and encouraged!

Request from Anonymous: I'm thinking just Matt Murdock and sister!reader, but the reader is also vigilante and, knowing her brother's identity, has been avoiding him like the plague whenever she's out patrolling because she just knows he'll immediately recognize her everything essentially, so the one time they do stumble upon each other, maybe reader in her vigilante persona saves civilian Matt or they're both out on patrol, she just knows she's screwed, and she knows Matt is gonna be mad, and that he is, mostly at himself for not noticing earlier, but some directed toward reader as well. And it's this whole thing that reader tries to play off, but she knows it's not gonna work because he clearly already knows.

Disclaimers: i do not own daredevil, its characters, or plot

Word count: 2966

Y/n was grateful to be able to live at home as she started college. Her relationship with her brother, Matt, was not the cliche arguing/fighting siblings you saw in everyday life. They got along almost perfectly barring the teasing fits and fake fighting. They saw eye-to-eye and loved each other. They were all they had. Matt missed his father, and Y/n did wish she would’ve been able to know her parents, but they both loved what they did have.

One thing Y/n was not particularly grateful for were Matt’s heightened senses. They were useful for the greater good and safety of Hell’s Kitchen, but sometimes made it difficult for Y/n at home. She could live with not being able to sneak up on or scare Matt, but she didn’t like that she could never lie to him. Every once and awhile she was able to slip little white lies by him, but nothing major got past Matt.

Except for one thing.

Y/n was a vigilante like her brother. To her credit, knowing Matt’s vigilante secret and what his senses were like, she was able to know how to outsmart them.

She had started taking martial arts classes before doing vigilante work. Matt, at first, was opposed but Y/n being athletically inclined and wanting to be able to defend herself when Matt wasn’t around won out. So coming home with bruises? Karate. Smell of copper in the air? Karate got rough today.

Y/n had been attending college now as well and did take her studies seriously as being a vigilante didn’t exactly pay well. So being out late? Studying with friends or staying the night at their place.

Y/n had practiced these lies on the regular in order to normalize them around Matt and keep her heartbeat from rising in nerves. She had also been used to his routines and regularly avoided going out on nights he went out. Or if they were out at the same time, she made a point to avoid the areas and routes he usually took. And she also made it a point to avoid getting a reputation and/or being put in the papers so he didn’t seek her out. And it all went pretty well.

For a while anyway.

“Y/n? I’m heading out - call me if you need anything, ok?” Matt called.

“Ok. Be safe! Love you!” his sister called back from her room.

“Love you too!”

Y/n waited until she heard Matt leave through his bedroom window and snuck over to her own to listen to him go down their fire escape. When she heard him get to the ground, she started changing into her own vigilante outfit. She wouldn’t go out right away, but she wanted to be ready. She started a timer on her phone for 10 minutes to be sure Matt was far away enough so she could leave without being noticed.

She plopped onto her bed and picked up her phone when it buzzed.

Peter: Going out tonight, hero? (:

Y/n chuckled and rolled her eyes.

Y/n: Yes. Just waiting for Matt to be further away.

Peter: Is he usually out tonight?

Y/n: No, but I think he’s chasing a lead.

Peter: Not the same one as you I hope?

Y/n: Doubt it. He has bigger fish to fry.

Y/n knew what Peter was talking about though. Usually, Y/n didn’t get involved in big time crimes; she knew she wasn’t the biggest, oldest, or most experienced person out there and she accepted that and tried to stay within her boundaries. But this was an exception.

Peter: Ok. Just be careful

Y/n smiled. 

Y/n: I will.

Peter: Text me when you’re safe and sound?

Y/n: Will do. Love you.

Peter: Love you more ;)

Y/n’s phone timer went off and she grinned. She sent Matt a text for him to see when he got home: MJ needs help with a project, gonna stay the night at her place. Text me when you get home. See you tomorrow <3

Putting her phone on silent mode, she stuck it in her backpack and pulled her mask up over the bottom half of her face. She left through the front door, making sure no one was in the hallway to see her, and left the apartment building. She passed her college on the way to her intended point that night to drop her backpack off - when she was done for the night she planned on sneaking into her friend’s dorm and sleeping there till morning when they had to go to class. 

She knocked on her window and left her backpack on the ledge, knowing she would grab it for her. She held a thumbs up to her before taking off.

Y/n headed towards the shipyard where she heard of trafficking activity going on. A bit cliché in her opinion but she supposed there was a reason it was a cliché. This was her first exception to staying away from bigger crimes. She had such good intel and had already taken care of some people who were part of its network before she realized who they were. She felt she had what it took to see it through to the end. 

When she arrived, she snuck through the various shipping containers that littered the yard, staying silent and out of sight. 

Or so she thought.

Matt was crouched on the ground near the corner of a shipping container further away, keeping tabs on the heartbeats around him. The ones of the 5 men present, and the 4 girls they had captive. He waited patiently for the right time to strike. After a couple minutes, a new heartbeat reached his ears. He perked up, tilting his head a bit, and listened. Slightly faster heartbeat, younger person, about 30 feet away from him and the targets…footsteps very quiet, approaching slowly. They weren’t with the men. Was it another vigilante he didn’t know about? Rookie cop? Matt didn’t think anyone else knew about this new trafficking ring yet.

Thinking it was someone that may not know what they were getting into, Matt followed the sound of the heartbeat but before he could reach them, they rolled forward into the next alley between containers and threw a knife into the closest man, sending him falling to the ground, putting all the others at high alert.

Matt cursed under his breath and ran in, pulling his clubs out and throwing one at the nearest person to him to knock his gun out of his hands, then started a fight with the next. The new presence came in to fight one of the men, truly holding their own. He knocked one man out in time for the first person to get back up and start throwing punches. The other supposed vigilante took their first adversary out, soon followed by the second. The one Matt was currently fighting took Matt’s second of attention on the other and fired a shot, hitting them in the arm. A somewhat familiar shout rang out and Matt finished the man off before walking towards his unexpected helper. When they saw him, their eyes widened and they took off.

“Hey, wait!” Matt called. He chased after them, not yet knowing it was his sister he was running after. 

Y/n bit her already bleeding lip to keep from letting out cries of pain from the gunshot wound; the pain getting worse from her running. She would admit she didn’t think there would be as many men as there were. And she definitely didn't expect Matt to show up. They were outside Hell’s Kitchen. Her thoughts were interrupted when her non-injured arm was grabbed and she was pulled into an alley and pushed up against the wall.

“Who are you?!” Matt said. Heavy breaths coming through fabric, she was wearing a mask that covered the bottom half of her face. When she didn’t say anything, Matt ripped the mask down and yelled, “Answer me!” 

Y/n mentally cursed herself for the flinch she gave when Matt yelled. She wasn’t used to him yelling at her. She knew he didn’t realize it was her at this point but still. Hearing it coming from him shocked her. 

Matt noticed this and tilted his head. Heart pounding, heavy breaths being shortened to try and control them. They were hiding something. She. Matt had a suspicion. But he was praying he was wrong. 

“Say something,” he whispered.

Y/n closed her eyes to push back the sting she started to feel, shaking her head.

Matt raised a shaking hand to her face. Y/n stood still, focusing on controlling her breathing as he gently felt her.

“Y/n…” It was more of a statement than a question from Matt.

The girl may have been able to keep her heart calm when she prepared herself to lie; but being caught by surprise like this impeded her ability to do that this time. And she knew Matt could tell because her heart felt like it was about to beat out of her chest.

Right now, Y/n wished she had the senses her brother did because she couldn’t get a read on him.

Matt, on the inside, was going through a reel of different emotions. Shock, anger, confusion, guilt, worry…worry. He honed his senses when he remembered the gunshot. Heavy taste of copper in the air, heat radiating to his hand when he hovered it over her arm. He flared his nostrils and twitched his neck. His face grimaced as he held back the urge to bare his teeth. Pushing through his inner turmoil, he pulled his phone out and dialed a number, one hand keeping his sister put against the wall.

“Hey Claire…I know you said you wouldn’t patch me up again but it’s not me this time…yeah…we’re heading back to the apartment now so we’ll meet you there…thank you.” Matt hung up and put his phone away. He grabbed Y/n’s uninjured arm and pulled her along through the alleys to go home. Silence settled like an elephant in the room and affected them both in different ways.

And Y/n knew she was screwed.

Y/n laid on the sofa on her back as Claire worked on her arm. She was able to get a hold of a local anesthetic so Y/n didn’t feel any pain. The girl lay there with her eyes closed and a frown on her face, a few tears escaping down her cheeks. 

Claire focused on her work, aware that Matt’s furious presence on the other side of the room was the cause of Y/n’s emotions. Claire dared not say anything; only give the girl reassuring looks when she opened her eyes.

When Claire finished, she squeezed Y/n’s good shoulder and got her supplies together. She nodded to Matt and told him to let her know if Y/n needed anything or if the injury got worse. Matt quietly thanked her. 

“Go easy on her,” Claire said quietly, knowing the girl was in for it. When Matt kept his blind gaze forward, Claire sighed and left.

Y/n listened as the ER nurse walked out and shut the door behind her, keeping her eyes closed the whole time. She listened as Matt stayed in the same spot, controlled breaths going in and out. She could practically hear him thinking. Stewing in anger. A couple more tears leaked from under her eyelids before she spoke. “Just get it over with…Please.”

Matt, who stood in inner turmoil, sighed and put his hands on his hips. “I don’t even know where to start to be honest,” he said, tone steady…for now. He took a deep breath and turned his head in her direction. “Do you want me to talk about how reckless that was? Or we could start with how you’ve been lying to me for G-d knows how long! And going around doing things you can’t handle! Things I never wanted you to get involved with!! Or how about how you could’ve been killed?!”

Y/n, at this point, was lightly sobbing on the couch, covering her face with her hand. She knew if Matt ever found out about her vigilante activities he would be angry. But it still hit her hard. And in the moment she couldn’t get past the feelings of shame for lying to her brother; and being a disappointment for going against his wishes. Her motives for those things wouldn’t surface when he was yelling at her. She could only feel her negative emotions.

“Say something!” Matt repeated himself from earlier in the night, making Y/n flinch again. “I mean, what the hell were you thinking?!”

Y/n took a breath and stood from the couch to face him. She calmed her crying and tried standing her ground a bit. “What do you want me to say, Matt?” she said calmly. “I know nothing I say is going to be a good enough reason.”

“And you think being smart is gonna be better?” he shot back, raising his brow.

Y/n bit her lip and looked at the ceiling before looking back at Matt. “I know it was reckless. I didn’t think it was going to be so involved. I never usually even get into things this big. But I had come across other people that were part of that ring of traffickers and I thought I could do it.

“And I’m sorry for lying to you. I just knew you wouldn’t let me do what I’ve been doing if I had told you. Ever since I-...” Y/n paused to collect herself, trying not to cry again. “Ever since the…situation…I’ve felt powerless, Matt,” she admitted, tears springing to her eyes without permission. “When I started taking self-defense classes and other martial arts, I felt better about my own protection. But I had an experience similar to the one that birthed the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen. The thing that made you Daredevil is everywhere, Matt. And just like you, I couldn’t let it go. But in my case I stopped it before it happened…And I felt like I got some of my control back. And I saved someone in the process. I won’t be victimized again,” she said, voice gravelly with unshed tears. “And I won’t let someone else go through it if I can help it.”

Matt sighed and turned his face towards the ground. His overwhelming anger slowly dissipated as his sister talked. He knew the ‘situation’ she was referring to and understood the powerlessness she mentioned. He felt it too. How he wasn’t able to be there and save his innocent sister from something so terrible. He understood the need to try and get power back, to try and save others from the same thing. And he hated that he understood. Part of him wanted to keep the anger he felt so he could find a way to stop her. But he realized that maybe his anger wasn’t at her for doing this, but partly at himself for not noticing. And partly for the parental-like instinct to be upset when she was hurt, like tonight. His thoughts were interrupted when Y/n continued.

“You can try but you can’t stop me…I’m not a little girl anymore.” She paused to wipe a couple tears from her face “I don’t need your approval…but it’d be nice if I had it,” she said quieter. “I can do this, Matt.”

Matt listened to her growing sniffles, her tears hitting the ground. He sighed, walked up, and pulled her into a hug that she returned. “I know you can…And I don’t like fighting with you, Starling. I just worry about you too much…You’re everything I have. I can’t stand the thought of something happening to you or losing you.”

Y/n sniffled a bit and moved to rest her forehead up against Matt’s shoulder so she could speak. “How do you think I feel, Matt? I love what you do for others and don’t want you to stop. But I’m terrified every time you go out that you won’t come back. You’re everything I have too. But it’s just something I have to live with. And I’m happy to do it because I know you make a difference…just like I can.” Y/n pulled away to look directly at her brother. “Can you please find it in your heart to do the same for me? Please, Matty,” she whispered. 

Matt’s unseeing eyes were level with hers as he raised a hand to push some stray hair behind her ear, Y/n unable to stop herself from leaning into his touch. He smiled a bit and ran a thumb over her cheek to wipe some of her tears away. “I can try,” he said honestly. “But we need to have a deeper talk about this whole thing. Not to yell at you or argue. But to talk about ways to keep you safer…I don’t want to keep you from doing something you feel called to do, but there are ways to do it that don’t end with you being in a firefight. We can unravel these things while your arm is healing. Deal?”

Y/n smiled and flung her uninjured arm around his shoulders. “Deal,” she whispered. “I love you, Matty. And I’m sorry for lying to you.”

Matt sighed as he hugged her again. “I forgive you. I’m sorry for yelling. I just worry about you. And I hate seeing you hurt. But I was ignorant in thinking I was the only one that felt that way. I think we can both work to do better. Together.”

[huntressordinary]

AvA 11 thumbnails + thoughts

Screenshots of AvA episode 11 thumbnails. (as of 14 Dec, 11 pm UTC+1)

Spoilers !!!

I'm sure some of you caught the old thumbnail, but in case you weren't aware, this is it:

Animator vs. Animation episode 11 is titled after & centers around the first character in the series - victim (lowercase). We only knew vic in his grey form, except for his first ever appearance in AvA 1 (uploaded to YouTube in 2007. That's 17 years ago... man I'm old). Since then, his changed looks have been subject to many discussions and fan theories. Now we know that vic lost his saturation/hue while breaking through the outernet layer - which means he would've already been grey living with Mitsi and co, not black as seen above.

The thumbnail is split exactly in half, one of which is happy and peaceful, the other full of violence. For me, the line through the middle implies a life before and a life after - but vic was already traumatised while living in the outernet. I can see why the old thumb could be confusing.

Here's the updated version:

And it's soo much better. The new thumb in contrast looks much more intense, much more fitting with the tone of this episode, and holds more meaning.

The half of the old thumb, which shows a happy part of victim's life, has been reduced to a quarter, and instead of a generic character lineup it now shows a peaceful memory with his best friend/partner/beloved - the focus was shifted on them because of their role within vic's life.

In both versions, Alan is represented as the cursor, aka the source of victim's pain (and later, obsession), which vic experienced directly through a long period of torture, and indirectly through creation of TCO (and TDL), who are responsible for Mitsi's death. In the old thumb, the cursor was put in the background with everything else, but in the new thumb, the cursor is shown separately. This is actually an interesting decision, to show every part of victim's life separately. It shows each entity as its own influence and/or different part, and not simply a cluster of figures.

The flames of death cast an ominous red glow on his hunched figure - victim is haunted by his past, while he sits in a throne of his own making, thinking about the one who ruined his life twice. Plotting revenge - or, perhaps, something worse than revenge.

And the cycle of abuse continues.

[venus-is-thinking]

DRDT Chapter 2 Episode 16: Initial Thoughts

Sorry for missing episode 15 :(

That being said, oh my god, Chapter 2 is actually complete! This is so exciting! I'm really hyped to talk about this episode and give my not-live summary of my live reactions!

SPOILER WARNING FOR DRDT THROUGH THE END OF CH 2!!!

CW: Murder, sacrifice, suicide

The Reactions

12-1, this time. I'm still personally partial to the extra vote on Teruko last Trial being Arei (being petty about her "I'm voting for you no matter what" thing), so I would assume Ace is the Teruko vote. If so, I do think it's interesting that he voted Teruko as opposed to, like, Nico. Then again, it might be that it's just more convenient for DRDTdev to consistently put the extra vote on Teruko, lol.

Notably, the dead people have "N/A," not 0. We probably could tell this because of Xander last time, but I didn't check. I wonder if this implies we won't ever need to vote for someone dead (ex. a mastermind who "died" earlier in the killing game).

I'm free... I can read whatever Eden says as genuine...

Take THAT, Whit time loop theorists /j

I do think it's funny/kinda telling? that Whit is only saying this after the trial is over. Like, I feel like the normal time to go "oh my god we're having another trial" is, like... when you find the body? So, it's interesting that his reaction is so delayed.

So, I don't know if this was an intentional parallel, but...

These feel similar to me. I really like the Ace/Arei parallels, where they're both chronically hated people, but Arei apologizes and tries to change whereas Ace lets the fear and paranoia consume him until there's no turning back. Ace only says this after he's already been found guilty of murder; Arei says this before promising to change her ways to the victim of her bullying.

Teruko out here hopping on that self-blame train.

It's so funny how different Hu's standards are when talking about Ace's murder vs. Nico's attempted murder. Like... Hu this is what everyone was telling you like an hour ago. What.

It's really interesting that we're highlighting this line. I wonder if this is part of a theme that we're going to explore further, maybe tied into the "all murderers have to be punished" thing. Or maybe Eden isn't actually accurate here, but doesn't know it; has Ace killed someone in the past?

Fun trick you can do here!

When we first met Teruko a week ago, she was the same person, certainly, but she was also different. She was happier, and she trusted people more.

There are so many good character parallels in DRDT. The Ace/Teruko one was really interesting in this post-trial.

Ooh, new flavor of J anti-murder! This seems to be broadening it to also being critical of the killing game, which would go against my weird hypothetical "J is anti-murderer but also the mastermind" read.

It's interesting, with how this is Ace's logic. It makes total sense for his character, though. I think it's easy for us, the viewers, to forget the fact that the characters probably don't have the precedent of "every blackened ever always loses." When Ace is running the odds, he thinks his survival odds were better as a killer than as a participant in the killing game. And y'know, considering how close he came to dying as Nico's victim, that's kinda fair.

I desperately want to know what Levi was going to say here.

I really like the fact that Ace DID care about Levi. That he intrinsically cares about him, but he knows factually that he isn't supposed to like or trust someone in a killing game. That once he killed Arei, he had to resolve to kill everyone in the killing game, even Levi.

The only way Ace knew to prevent himself from caring was to stay mad, I guess. Kinda unfortunate though, considering that I do think Levi wanted to patch things up with him genuinely.

Meanwhile, Levi, who doesn't understand emotions, is just like "man what the fuck. That makes no sense."

What a pair. I'm sad we're not going to get to see their dynamic anymore :(

In other words, I'm back on the Levi survivor train baby! My biggest problem with it before was that I thought Ace was gonna survive and I didn't think Ace and Levi were both gonna survive, so now we're locking tf in!

This is fun! I always wonder why more people don't try stuff like this. Like... shoot your shot. You're gonna die otherwise, soooo...

Great animation as always

I think it's really funny that Teruko is so fucking mad that she bullies Ace into action. Like, that's so fitting for both of them.

I love using this David expression here. He's just like, "was it that easy? Why was I trying to throw the trial then???"

aaaaAAAAAAAA--

What the fuck!! XF-Ture mention!!!!!!!!

I like the spooky vibe MonoTV has for this post-trial, but I do hope we get our normal silly lil guy back next chapter. I like the MonoTV personality we see all the time. I'm gonna miss it if it just died like that :(

I am also squinting so hard at everyone's reactions through "who is the mastermind" goggles. Maybe I'll analyze them in a different post sometime.

Fascinating purpose. Not "to create despair." Not "to run the killing game until only one participant survives." To kill everyone.

Does this include whichever mastermind?

Why does whoever programmed MonoTV want to kill all of these people? Are they being punished for something?

This countdown sequence fucked me up. The tensions and emotions are so high. Even as someone who was confident that Teruko, at least, wasn't going to die no matter what, I was so on edge. I got really scared that Eden was going to take the hit for Teruko, though, and that's what I was reading into when I wasn't sure Eden would make it to Chapter 3.

This speech, more than any other one Teruko has made or any actions she's taken or endured, really made me feel for Teruko. The fact that she can so casually talk about truly traumatic and horrific things happening to her, while smiling, truly shows how much she's grown used to it. Like, girl. You don't deserve this. What.

The character work on Teruko especially this episode is just fantastic. No words.

This panel stressed me out so bad because it was really just a question of WHO took the bullet for Teruko. Like, if she's thinking this, someone clearly did.

My bets were on either Eden, Charles, or Ace.

Levi, though, was such a surprise to see. Like, in a good way. It means so much.

First of all, it's a callback to the end of the prologue. Levi attacks MonoTV, and when MonoTV tries to kill him in response, Teruko's danger sense alerts her. It's only through Teruko warning Levi to move that Levi dodged the main attack, resulting in only an arm injury rather than death. Now, Levi returns her favor, preventing her from dying from attacking MonoTV.

Second, it puts Ace into the position we see of having to confront the possibility of Levi's death. I got the distinct sense that they wanted Ace to be able to do something heroic on his way out, to prove all the haters wrong (which is why I thought it was possible he'd take the hit for Teruko instead of Levi). By putting Levi, pretty clearly the person he cares most about, into harm's way, it makes Ace take action. It means that he HAS to confront the fact that he cares Levi, and that he has to die.

And, thirdly... I am so fascinated to learn why Levi did this. Was it as simple as a transactional, "you saved me from execution before?" Is it "I thought saving someone would make me a good person?" Does Levi actually feel some remorse for Teruko in this moment, causing him to take action?

No matter what his reasoning, I can't wait to hear from him. I strongly suspect Levi won't actually die from this (at the very least, I hope not, because I really want to hear more from him), but even if he does, hopefully we'll still get some more insight in a bonus episode or a flashback or something.

I'm trying to figure out what triggered Whit here.

This is immediately following "The elevator won't open," but it also definitely can just correlate to "[person] will die if they don't receive immediate medical treatment." I have to assume that something here is reminding Whit of his mom...?

With the weird "Whit knows a lot about hanging" earlier, I got the impression that Whit's mom probably hung herself. From this, I would probably theorize that Whit found her while she was still alive, but not quickly enough to save her. Yikes.

Anyways, I think that means everyone has some kind of despair sprite now! That's fun!

o7

I'm sure many have pointed this out, but do we think he's counting himself here (Arei + Ace + Levi = 3), or do we think he feels responsible for someone else's death in his past (probably Taylor)? I'd lean towards the second one.

Y'know, before I thought Arturo was just pressed about the surgeon thing because people were unfairly hating on him. This, at least, I think implies something relating to Felicity.

Arturo doesn't have any experience saving lives. He left, and Felicity died. He can't save lives; he's only responsible for Felicity's ending. I think that's how he sees it.

On a side note, I think there's a very definite possibility that Chapter 3 cold opens on Arturo saving Levi's life??? Like, how Chapter 2 started with Eden POV, I think Chapter 3 could start with Arturo taking his shot at healing Levi, eventually resulting in Levi stabilizing. I'm not sure who would be there with him. Possibly Hu, since she was leading the "let's get Levi to the infirmary" effort...?

I love executions like this. Accirax has said before that the best executions are what make their recipient feel the most despair, and that's definitely what they did with Ace here. Put the talent aside; fear is what Ace fears the most.

Uhhhh. I'm pulling an Accirax. Part 2 in reblog!