#Sorry about all the setup
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Here's a thing! Reincarnation of Dipper who's not in the best of situations. (A Cult)
Got some gore and knives in here so watch out!
In the room of ritual, everything is ready.Ā
Off in that wide and majestic space, the candles are lit. The circle is drawn. The altar spread with gold and trinkets, little offerings of delight and whimsy, tomes of knowledge. Along with the remnants of the latest sacrifice, dried in long trails down the stone.
The tomes, though. If one looked closely, they would see mostly encyclopedia volumes from like, sixty years ago. Because, yeah, those are going to be so tempting for a being of infinite knowledge.
Long chanting rings through the hallways, preparing the way. The ritual is in less than an hour. In preparation for the service, the servants of their lord make themselves presentable.Ā
Dipper adjusts his robe - too big for him, by at least one size- and pulls at the neckline. It always drags up against his throat, in a tight, uncomfortable way. He tugs it down again, glaring into the small mirror on the otherwise bare wall.
Bill Cipher is the most powerful being in the universe, and his reach is infinite and his discernment of the mind and mastery of mysteries is unquestionable, yadda yadda yadda.Ā
Dipper just. Doesnāt know what everyone else here expects to happen. Especially with the setup unchanged from the one he saw last year. And the year before that. And the one before that.Ā
Odds are, this ritual is going to end up the same as every other one.Ā
Pointless.
Dipper adjusts his robes again, and smooths out the front with slow strokes. As long as this is going to happen, he might as well avoid drawing attention to himself. Heās had enough āattentionā for more than a lifetime.
Thereās a rhythm to these ceremonies.Ā Dipper hears the footsteps, and easily tucks the hood of his robe up, only semi-stumbling as he joins the twin lines of robed figures leading into the ritual room.Ā
As he tucks his hands together, covering them with long sleeves - Dipper spends another moment to silently sigh.Ā
He joins the line, ducking his head as he joins in formation. The two lines of followers shuffle on with their long robes brushing the floor. He can hear them whispering to each other; varying levels of excitement, boredom. Talking about plans for after the ritual. He thinks he picks up one of the more devout members, almost humming with anticipation.
Despite the murmurs, the sight itself could be quite impressive. An all-seeing eye, if it was real, might even appreciate it.
Still, all these dramatics are so over the top. Just as fruitless and stupid as every other prayer, or ritual. Never worked before, not gonna work now. Dipperās not sure why theyāre trying the same freakinā thing, over and over again.
For a bunch of people obsessed with the infinite power and knowledge Cipher represents, they havenāt accrued any.Ā
And for that matter! If Bill Cipherās eye is truly all-seeing, why hasnāt he ever responded? His triangle is emblazoned on every wall, and on their robes. You canāt look at a surface without seeing it staring back at you, and thereās no short of devout worshipers, constantly praying and doing rites.Ā
Dipper dares a glance at one of the long scrawls on the walls, seething slightly at the handwriting. And the grammar.
If he was watching, surely he would have spoken up by now. Even if itās just to critique the decor, which is tacky as hell.
The main ritual room fills up with warm bodies, and Dipper stands in an inconspicuous place. Just to the left, and not quite entirely in the back. At the front of the room, he can see the priest nodding approvingly, hands tucked behind his back.Ā
Hidden under the sleeves, Dipper clenches his hands together. Breathing out a silent prayer of his own, to nobody particular. He can stand stock-still through one or two more ridiculous rituals, if it means no more prayers to a blind idiot god.
A week. Maybe two. Thatās it.
Then heāll be out of these robes, and far, far away from here. Heāll never see these people again. Heāll never have to chant a single verse again in slightly incorrect Latin. Heāll never have to kneel, or go before that stone altar again, not even once.
The outside world is - thereās a lot of talk about it. Thereās always a lot of talk, more or less colored by personal experiences and levels of permission to go āoutsideā. Dipperās learned, now, that well over ninety percent of the gossip is lies.Ā
If his palms still sweat at the prospect, itās because itāsā¦ New. Different. But it canāt possibly be worse than here, and, like. Novelty is condoned by his not-really-a-god. Trying new things should be standard doctrine - if the priest wasnāt a total idiot.
Not much longer, now.Ā
Out there, things will be better. Out there, Dipper will have a chance at having a life.Ā
And there wonāt be any trouble, since heāll keep his mouth shut.
Ā āChildren of Cipher!ā The high-pitched voice of the priest rings tinnily through the air. āWe are once again assembled!ā
Dipper bows in concert with his fellows. Staring at the ground is a good way to not roll his eyes.Ā
A chant rises up, and he keeps his lips clamped together as he mirrors the ritual bowing and scraping and general genuflection. The priest will go on and on, no matter what he does.Ā
All it takes to get through this is time. Another round of kneeling, then standing, then kneeling, until they stand at the last word in a thronging chorus.
āBrothers!ā A louder, shriller call, now that everyone has been drawn close to a fervor. For all his faults, the priest does know how to read the mood - āTonight is a special evening!ā His arms thrown up, spindly and bare as the sleeves drop near to his shoulders. āWho will bleed for our god?ā
The only thing that prevents Dipper from flinching is how much attention that would draw.
He hardly dares to breathe, lest some wayward motion be taken as āenthusiasm.āĀ
Dipper keeps his head bowed, as murmurs start up around him andĀ his forehead starts to prickle with sweat.Ā
Sacrifices happen all the time. Mostly animals. Last year they got a goat, and that was considered a pretty big one and the stew afterwards was filling, and probably tasted pretty good.Ā
Human blood, though. Thatās - They havenāt done this in years.Ā
The susurration of voices in the background grow louder, and Dipper stays bowed in place. Of course nobody wants to volunteer; āwillingā isnāt easily found when it comes to getting a knife in your flesh - but someoneās going to bleed, tonight. The āvolunteerā bit will be justified by whateverās convenient.
Around him thereās murmurs, a few, low arguments. Tension is starting to rise, but for the most part, heās being overlooked.
He nearly thinks heās gotten away with it, too, when a hard shove on his back sends him stumbling forward.
āHere, brothers!ā The voice rings in Dipperās ears as he tries to backtrack, slipping on the robes of the person in front of him and dropping painfully to the floor. āThe provider!ā
Shit, shit, shit.Ā
Dipper tries to glance back at whatever asshole pushed him, but the crowdās already grouped together into a bunch of faceless clumps, drawing back from his fall.Ā
He levels the worst glare he can manage, even as both his arms are seized by two of his so-called ābrothersā. The big ones.Ā
Gritting his teeth, Dipper digs in his heels. Strugglingās ineffective, protestingās impossible. Gesturing wildly, including a raised finger in the general direction of the asshole who pushed him, Dipper gets dragged to the foot of the altar.Ā
āSee how he offers his flesh! See how he shakes with joy!ā The priest jogs his arms in the air. Dipper shakes his head rapidly holding up his hands. āHis arms, already offered!ā
And for a moment Dipperās simply annoyed at how obvious it is that the whole damn ritual is a farce.Ā
āTonight, we call upon the god! Tonight! We-ā
Whatever else heās yelling about, Dipper doesnāt pay any mind. Heās busy trying to use the loose robes to worm his way out of the guardsā grip. It halfway works, until one of them gets him by the bare wrist and painfully pulls it out.
The cold stone hits his waist. One of his sleeves is drawn to his shoulder. His arm pinned, bare and wrist upraised, on the stone.Ā
Damn it, if he finds out who shoved him, heās going to - he arches up, but firm hands hold his shoulders. Thereās little time to think about revenge when heās trying to find a way out of this. Arm, stuck. Shoulders, held. The exits, totally blocked by a bunch of crowded figures.Ā
In a way, Dipper canāt truly blame them. After all, if the current sacrifice got away, who knows?Ā
They could be next.Ā
The priest seems pleased, at least. He paces in front of the altar, gesticulating wildly, and rambling on about god and blood, and other nonsensical bullshit.
Great. They have their āsacrificeā for tonight. So, so super āwillingā too, what with how he, quote ārushed to offer himselfā, end quote.Ā
Dipper takes a long breath, holding it for three beats. Then he lets it out.Ā
Okay. If this follows most other āhuman sacrificesā, it should be bearable. Some bloodletting, a nasty scar. Maybe a missing finger, but heās learned to deal with worse. Push through the moment, wait for it to be over. Soon enough, heāll be on the other side of this entire godawful situation.
Focusing on the transitory nature of pain helps him steady his breathing. And more importantly, slow his heart rate.
Calming meditation. He can work on that. Though itās difficult, with the way the priest keeps going on and on about an āauspicious nightā. Also, the very large, curved, very sharp-looking knife.
Dipper tries his best not to stare at it. Or to linger too much on the thought of knives and flesh and blood. If he could stop thinking, for once in his stupid life, itāll be over before he knows it.
Thatās totally not not the usual knife, though. He wonders where the hell it came from.
Last time, it was some basic utilitarian repurposed chef-thing, with a crudely engraved triangle on the hilt and the blade. This oneās much moreā¦ Ceremonial. Sharper, too, with a wicked curve and a gleaming edge, and covered in runes that Dipperās never seen before.
He mouths a swear as one guard uncurls his fingers from the edge of the altar, turning his wrist back upright. The priest waves the very, very sharp blade around, yelling something that Dipper doesnāt bother parsing, even as his mind races. He can tell itās definitely not Cipher runes on that thing, and not the old Latin their god prefers. Did someone go outside to find this? Another random artifact that the priest got his hands on? Seems like heās always picking up useless semi-magic items.
The knife doesnāt feel āuselessļæ½ļæ½, though, even from a glance. It radiates a pure and terrifying purpose.Ā
Especially as it comes down, and rests against his wrist. Almost gently, its point bites a drop of blood from his skin.
The fetid breath of the priest pants over the altar. Dipper turns away, neck twisting as far as he can manage, eyes shut.
Please let this be just a bit. Just a drop. A small, tentative cut to fill a bit of the channels on the stone. Thereās a sting to the metal, a slight burn, and though Dipperās not one of the main Holders of Mysteries or anything, he feels like thatās a very bad sign.
Then he feels. Cold.
It runs down his inner arm, lingering for an instant before blossoming into sharp, bright pain. He nearly chokes on air, cringing into a hunched position as he feels the knife slide.
The catching drag of the old knife would have been painful, but that was mostly used for taking a finger, or maybe dragging across the back of the arm, in a more decorative than productive way of drawing blood.Ā
The ease with which this knife cuts sends a deep, swirling nausea straight to the pit of his stomach.
āBehold, the flow! The magic gathers, my children!ā THe priestās voice warbles a bit as āWith this tool, with this magic, our god will hear our call! He will behold our devotion, and raise us to glory! He will answer-ā More and more words, variations on encouragement. Zero substance, all hype. A fanatical motivation speaker, Dipper thinks, half-hysterically.Ā
Vapid or not, the result is effective. The sight of blood has certainly spurred everyone into a kind of frenzy, whether from fear or fervor, Dipper doesnāt care.
And theyāre certainly getting a lot of blood. More than required.
Dipper struggles up against the hold, but itās pointless. He ās stuck there for a few long minutes, oozing out for an audience that canāt even see half the damn thing, and it hurts.Ā
The red trail gathers, slowly pooling down and into the engraven triangle. Enough to fill the shallow channels easily, which, uh. Dipperās never seen before. With the other sacrifices it kind of stopped and clotted, but this moves like itās being wicked along the surface.
He makes a face asĀ his blood slowly travels through the lines, but canāt see any surface changes, or feel anything that might have been put on the stone.Ā Ā
Until it connects at the top point. Then it meets, completing the image of Bill with a strange, too-bubbly āblorpā.Ā
Okay. Weird. But thatās plenty, right? Ritual done, blood offered, and now, he should get going.
Lurching upward gets the grip to loosen up on his arms, as the guards loosen their grip a bit. They already have what they need, and hell. Dippers deserves a frigginā break. With the immediate attention off him, he can dare a glance at his arm -Ā
And instantly averts his gaze to absolutely anything else.Ā
The priest turns around, arms raised. Pumping themĀ in the air, knife glinting in the candlelight. āYes. Yes!ā He swings the blade around, nearly catching one of the big brothers in the side. āSee how easily the liquid flows. The power builds! I can feel it - the summoning, in this room tonight!ā
The crowd calls out their enthusiasm, a high rising āooohā noise.Ā
Dipper sighs, and tries to scoot back away from the altar. Itās done, at least; heāll just have to cope with the aftermath. Could be worse.
āThe other arm, brothers!ā A loud, clarion call. Dipper whips his head around,Ā as the priest lowers his arms - and turns back around. Pointing at Dipper. Again. āI feel the blade crave more!āĀ
Uh, hello? What?
Dipper glances up at the knife. At how the slight sheen of blood has dipped into some of the runes, the faint glow -Ā and goes āhuhā.Ā
Alright, heāll admit. Itās definitely magical.Ā
But heās beginning to suspect it has less to do with Bill, and a lot more to do with other forces. Ones that might, say, make a ritual flow smoothly. Or make a fanatical asshole even more bloodthirsty.
Behind him, he almost feels the guards shrug, right before he gets shoved against the altar again. One of the assholes even dares to pat his side, in a brief bit of unexpected sympathy. Not that it means anything.Ā
Dipper longs to curse them out, to scream at every single one of these absolute jackasses. Every one of them is just watching this happen. Nobody thinks about what happens next, ever, including -Ā
He grits his teeth instead, hard enough that he thinks something might crack.
Everyone follows orders. The words of their supposed āgodā, filtered through a man whoās fallible and frail and frankly fucking stupid.Ā Always getting stupid magical trinkets. Always trying to find a link to that demonic god, constantly pursuing magic, and power, and influence. No matter the cost.
Why would he care if one of the too-few worshipers pays the price?
And fuck that.
Before, Dipper struggled as much as he could. Partly from fear, sure. But mostly to make a point. That this was stupid and painful, and wasnāt going to do anything anyway. Knowing that with enough kicking and protest, he might get them to cut things short.
Now, seeing the priest whip the blade back around, raising overhead with both hands - he fights.
A solid kick lands in the left guardās groin, and he gets his wounded arm back. Dipper clutches it to his chest, but the otherās still pinned and being twisted, now. Another kick gets something softer, and he hears a huff from the priest. Then a loud, angry order to āHold him down!ā.
Dipperās shoved into the stone, stomach digging into the edge of the altar hard enough to make him gag. His head hits the surface, more dizzying than painful. There's a hand gripped in his hair. Then his other sleeve is drawn up, his healthy arm extended over the table. Bare skin exposed, lying over the bloody surface.Ā
He breathes heavily, nose nearly against the altar. It quickly grows hot from his breath, and moist, too, which is probably why his face feels wet. He doesnāt hear anything but his own harsh panting.Ā
He never wanted to be a part of this, he never wanted to grow up like this. In a week or so, he was going to get out, and now heās going to get hurt again, so soon, and he only has so much blood in him. He doesnāt want to die. He shuts his eyes, tucking up against himself. Hoping the weight of his body will drag his arm away where his own strength couldnāt, choking back a tightness in his throat. He was nearly out. He was nearly safe.
He was almost free.Ā
He breathes harder, shutting his eyes tight. He presses his forehead against the runes, and the blood, and just wishes he wasnāt here.Ā
Metal clangs on the floor, ringing bright as a bell.Ā
Thereās a sudden intake of breath. Dipper feels the hands release him, a shocked sound. Then the āflumpā of a lot of draped fabric, all at once.Ā
Dipper keeps his face against the stone, breathing slower. Thatās. Thatās not how any ritual goes.
He canāt waste the opportunity, though. Now that his arms are free, Dipper pulls his sleeve back up, bundling it around the cut. Shit. Does he clench his fist or leave his grip loose? Which one slows blood flow.Ā
Whatever interrupted this isnāt going to last. Heās only got a few seconds before everyone comes back to whatever passes for their senses, and tries to ācomplete the summoningā, or whatever the hell they were after.
Gotta act. Gotta - Dipper wheels around, panting for breath.Ā
In front of the altar, all the robed figures in the room have fallen to their knees. The priestās dropped the knife. Dipper scoots it a little closer to himself with a foot, watching as the zealot raises his arms in devout praise.Ā
Dipper pauses. Still clenching tight on his wrist, though his sleeve is starting to feel damp. Things donāt just stop like that. The ritual has to continue. People should be surging up to keep the momentum, but the entire room is -
Oh.Ā
Yeah, now he sees it.Ā
All the candles were lit before. They give a little light to a room thatās never seen electronics in its life, dim as it is.Ā
Right now, theyāre bursting with flame, rising high enough to cast weird shadows over the cavern -Ā
And itās a very bright blue.Ā
Shit.
Dipper whirls around, unsteady on his feet. Staring at a long, long trail of rising blood. Almost a string, or a reverse droplet, floating up from the triangle carved on the stone. In midair it spreads into a thin web, shapeless and vaguely pulsing.Ā
Okay. That is definitely magical. And absolutely up to no good.Ā
He fumbles around - where did he kick the knife? Maybe if he breaks it, itāll interrupt this whole thing. Who knows what the hell that idiot priest did, or where he got the artifact, or what it does.Ā
Dipper doesnāt know much about gods, or spirits, or demons, but anything that gets pulled in by a blood sacrifice canāt be a good sign. He spots the damn thing near the opposite corner, and braces himself on the altar. It heās careful, he can reach it without alerting anyone. Maybe.
Which is when the entire hall fills with bright, loud laughter.
āWell, well, well, well, well!ā The voice rings just as brightly as the laugh. Dipper jerks towards the sound, involuntarily, only to see a single eye open inside the breath web of blood. āWhat do we have here?ā
Thereās a resounding groan from the crowd. Various people start chanting, but theyāre all using different verses, and the priest starts his own, presumably improvised, wail of praise and devotion. The end result is an ear-rattling clamor.Ā
Dipper looks back at the altar. Watching the blood twist in this way, and that. The eye alights on him for a moment - he freezes - but it moves on from him quickly, examining the room.
Thereās a lot to see, too. Maybe terrified, devout worshipers isnāt weird for a supernatural entity, but itās thoroughly freaking Dipper out. Even the priest is on his knees.
āBoy, itās been a while since Iāve had this kinda summon!ā The net stretches, almost elastic; twisting into limblike shapes, and fractal forms. The slit-pupiled eye rolls back and forth. Then it blinks twice. āMight as well get dressed for the occasion! Hold on a sec.ā
The eye shuts into nothingness. Moments later, the blood starts getting really active, pulsing faster, twisting into shapes like itās alive.
Dipper spares a terrified check on his wrist, but. No, heās not feeding it, or anything. This is something else. Someone else, taking the material and lending it power enough to grow.Ā
Even as he watches, thereās a spreading arch of bone and the twist of veins. A fairly glorpy assortment of something between and below what looks like ribs, a strange thick blackness tinged with yellowā¦
He cringes back, and shuts his eyes. Shit, watching this is deeply unsettling.Ā
Not that itās gory, per se - that would imply that somethingās being taken apart, when it shouldnāt be. This is something being put together, a way that it shouldnāt ever be.
He backs up a step from the writhing mass, getting more fleshy by the instant. Then grimaces, teetering in place. Blood loss, right. From the asshole who started this whole thing. He levels a glare at said asshole -Ā
But. Beside him, the priest is quivering with tension. Trembling like he didnāt expect this to happen.
Frankly? Neither did Dipper. For all the times theyāve done a ritual, thereās never been a reaction like this.Ā
This insane mass, forming insanely out of nothing. Or well, from blood, that spread out in a weird three-dimensional - triangle, oh shit -
He should have known. Should have noticed. This was a summon, and while the object used wasnāt for the right being, maybe that doesn'tā matter with so much gathered intent.Ā
This isā¦.
Dipper falls, awkwardly, to his knees. Then ducks down in as low a bow as he can manage, pulling the hood of his robe back over his head.
Part of him thought Bill didnāt exist, or at least not in the way these guys talked about him. Maybe theyād latched onto some other spirit or deity, and completely misinterpreted everything. Maybe theyād made it all up, including some of the really old texts. There was never any evidence that their lord and master was real.Ā Ā
But given whatās happening hereā¦
Like hell is he gonna look like the only person who doesnāt.Ā
Something - two things - go āclackā on the altar. A few series of taps.Ā
Then a long, pleased sigh, and the sound of soft movement, like cloth.
Dipper keeps looking down. The hood keeps him anonymous, another faceless shape in the crowd. Just one more figure genuflecting before his -Ā
Before a god.Ā
One that might not even deserve a capital letter on the word, perhaps, but still an entity that he should not, under any circumstances, piss off.Ā
Thereās a tap that sounds like a shoe, and a low hum. Something lands beside him with a thud. In the brief moment that he raises his head, Dipper catches sight of black loafers, and long fingers on an oddly human-looking hand.Ā
He quickly lowers himself more towards the floor, holding his arm tight.Ā
Yep, just one more super-devoted believer, same as all the others. Super not important enough to notice.
āYou know, bloodās usually for blood gods!ā Bill Cipherās voice rings through the room. Itās higher than Dipper expected it to be. One of the fancy-looking black shoes kicks the knife up into the air, where itās caught by the long fingers of that hand. āPretty wild for you guys to pull this. With another guyās artifact, of all things!ā A chiding tut, and the knife twirls. āAnd pretty disrespectful, I gotta say.ā
āMy lord.ā The priestās voice is dry, even for a guy who already sounded half-dessicated. He rises to his knees, hands clasped together. āWe meant no disrespect. We are here to serve you, master. As we always have.ā
āUh huh,ā Bill says. In Dipperās limited sight, he toys idly with the knife, pressing the tip against the finger of an opposite hand. A bead of something dark wells up, and he rubs his fingers together.Ā
The priest recites several lines of a chant, making a triangle with his fingers. So eager, and so totally missing the disinterest in Billās tone- āWe have always been searching for you, our worship unending! You honor us with your presence. You shine upon us your infinite glory!ā
āSure you have,ā Bill says, sounding, if anything, bored. The blade in his hand flips around between his fingers, then back again. The motion reminds Dipper of a very deadly fidget spinner. āDo tell.ā
Which is when the priest surges up, nearly grabbing onto Billās thigh. Heās only stopped by a rapid sidestep.Ā
Dipper cringes back out of secondhand embarrassment. Bad move. Dumb move. āDevotedā or not, Bill was bored already - and infinite beings of pure energy do not like being manhandled by mortals.Ā
āLet us use this connection, and the blade! Let us complete the sacrifice.ā The priest continues, undeterred. Shuffling closer on his knees, he spreads his arms wide, inviting and eager. āThe blood could grant you all your power, that you might grant us-ā
āPass.ā Bill says dismissively. The knife flashes, and thereās a wet, solid āthunkā.Ā
Dipper catches a brief glimpse of the priestās face - stuck in shock, pale and lined with age - just before his body falls to the floor, as limp as a ragdoll. The knife handle in his chest props him up at a weird angle, before a swift kick from a black shoe sends it tumbling down the short three steps of the dais.
Dipper cringes into a smaller ball, trying to scrunch himself into invisibility. He watches Bill pass in front of him, standing in front of the crowd. The hand rests on a hip, while the other is raised out of site. Still far, far too close.
On the one hand, Billās examining the congregation. Distracted, for a moment. Staying out of his attention is so, so great.Ā
Dipper curls up in a much, much tighter ball despite that.Ā
In every single one of his plans to get out of here, Bill Cipher existing wasnāt a factor. Much less his actual, physical presence. All heād ever thought about was how this was bullshit, that the people he knew were awful - and how hopefully, nobody would notice if he left. Now the āgodā himself is here. Standing so near Dipper he could, if he wanted, stupidly touch the hem of his pants.
A distant, insane part of him chimes in with the stupid idea that itās nothing to really worry about.Ā
Like, compared to how heās still losing blood, for example.Ā
Right. Staunch first, panic later.
Dipper wraps his sleeve around his arm, as subtly as he can, teeth gritted. His first priority is to stop bleeding. No escape plan - or any plan for that matter - is going to be useful if he dies.Ā
The immensely powerful nightmare god is also a problem, obviously. But in this moment heās not the immediate threat.Ā
āHmmm.ā Bill lets out a low, contemplative hum. It resonates in the room, with how deathly silent things have become. āLetās see hereā¦ā
After a pause, he snaps his fingers. āStand!āĀ
The entire congregation leaps to their feet. One of them stumbles and gets a swift kick in the side.
āSit!ā Bill commands. Everyone drops to the floor. A low chuckle, then, āTurn around three times and bark like a dog!ā
Oh, now that wonāt -Ā
Or maybe it will. Dipper cringes, back pressed against the altar. Donāt just comply, what the hell. Sure itās a magical god-being, but - fuck. He watches the scene with a grimace.Ā
Bill, though, seems to be having a great time. Heās bouncing in place, voice bright with enthusiasm. āDo a little dance! Twist yourself until your joints snap! Hell, start a fight with the guy next to you!ā
Thereās havoc in the room of ritual. Robed figures practically fall all over themselves, and Dipper notes with a nauseating turn that some of them have drawn knives of their own. Chaos reigns; an entire scramble to do each possible thing, all at once.Ā
And Billās laughter rings out over everything, clapping his hands in delight.
Dipperās trapped in this room with an insane madman, leading a horde of equally insane idiots, and he doesnāt have a way out. He hopes heāll stay out of notice. He hopes that heāll live through the next five minutes.
Thereās no controlling the situation, but he can improve his odds.
The altarās pretty close, and Billās turned away, for the moment. Dipper scoots back, inching himself towards the corner. With enough shuffling, he might be able to move behind it and get out of sight.Ā
āWelp,ā Bill claps his hands again, this time with finality. Some of the chaos stills. āYouāre all annoying, boring little vermin, but maybe you guys could improve. I noticed the blood you used to summon me was real choice stuff!ā The exaggerated sound of a kiss. āVery nice.ā
Dipper feels sweat building up in his robes, and tries to be very still. Basically part of the ritual scenery. Anonymous furniture, at best.Ā Ā
āIn fact. It was so nice.ā The voice continues, at a lower tone. Almost a purr. Thereās a clack of shoes on stone. āLetās see who this little treat is!ā
The god seizes Dipperās wrist - the wounded one, sending a bolt of pain down his arm - and clamps his palm around it, incredibly tight.Ā
Before he knows it, Dipperās standing again, involuntarily, staring past his hood into a bright, glowing eye.
Heās meeting his god. Heās been noticed by Bill Cipher.Ā
So far heās not trembling, so. Thatās one thing he has going for him.Ā
Billās eye flicks down, then up again, almost thoughtful. Any question about his power is quickly tossed aside, because holy shit; the magic is nearly palpable, thrumming into Dipperās skin and making his heart race.Ā
Heās also sporting a bright, wide grin, in a face that makes Dipper do a double-take.
Like. He thought - he glances at the triangle on the back of the wall, then to the person in front of him.Ā
Okay, itās said that Bill Cipher can take any form he wants, human included, but, like. What?
Thankfully, Bill doesnāt seem to notice any of the insane, stupid things Dipper is thinking. All he does is raise his hand, and with one quick motion, sweep the hood off of Dipperās head.Ā
Dipper flinches back. Jaw clenched, eye shut.Ā
Shit, shit, shit. Special attention. All the scenarios he can think of say ānot goodā. Best case scenario, itās because Bill wants to thank him, for... Whatever his blood did. The rest of them involve increasingly terrifying ideas about what ānice bloodā means, and how much of it Bill might want. All of it, say. Maybe immediately.Ā
Dipper canāt pull away, not with such a strong hold on his arm. Fighting is downright dumb. Tremblingās happening, despite his best efforts, and the intrusive thought bubbles up that, hey, at least thereās lots of pressure on his wound. Could be worse.
Nothing happens. For several seconds.
Eventually, Dipper peeks an eye open.Ā
Thereās Bill Cipher, looking back at him. His eye is literally lit up, the pleased grin wide on his face.Ā
Dipper waits for an order, but the god doesnāt speak. He just wiggles his eyebrows. If anything, he looks oddlyā¦ expectant?
Fuck. Dipper has to do something.Ā
What the hell, there isnāt any doctrine for this.
Sure, he knows all of the catechism, and each chant he was taught. Heās got an encyclopedic memory of everything he was taught about this powerful interdimensional god-being, he knows every ritual back and forth. The tenets spring to mind, unbidden: Be obedient, speak his words, serve him in all ways - and most of all, donāt think.Ā
But Dipper canāt chant. He hasnāt been told to do anything yet. And though itād be a death sentence, if serving involves more bleeding heād be tempted to kick again. Hell, he literally just watched everyone else trying the other bits. They did exactly what they were supposed to, and that was āboringā.Ā
He never could stop thinking, though.Ā
Now, his mind is racing.
A little-known and never-preached fact about Bill Cipher is that he doesnāt, actually, like rules all that much -Ā
So.Ā
Dipper offers a hesitant, closed-mouth smile. He wiggles the fingers of his free hand, a bit awkwardly, in greeting.Ā
Then ducks his head again, wishing he still had a hood to cover his face.
That didnāt make it weird, right? Thatās a normal, devout thing to do. Coming from a totally religious guy, whoās only slightly damp from all the sweating.
āOh.ā Billās voice lowers to something like a purr. He tucks a knuckle under Dipperās chin, lifting him to meet his single eye again. An eye thatās glowing now, bright gold andĀ half-lidded. āTen outta ten on the offering, guys. Very cute.āĀ
Which is a little weird, but probably -Ā
āYāknow what?ā And Billās grin widens, bright and wild, as his thumb strokes Dipperās chin. āI like this one.ā
Uh oh.
Dipper tries sinking down into his oversized robes, but Bill just fishes around inside them until he can pull Dipper up again by his undershirt.Ā
āIn fact,ā Bill declares, sounding proud. He pulls Dipper in closer, hand still clamped painfully tight on his wounded wrist. āIām gonna keep him.ā
What?
Immediately after that declaration, Dipperās tugged in close, thumping against his side. Bill turns to start barking orders at the congregation, sharp and sneering.
Dipper canāt quite parse it. Heās still running over the last few words in his head.Ā
In the ritual room, the candles flare even higher, temperature rising to an uncomfortable degree. Dipper watches two worshipers collide with each other in their frantic obedience, and canāt even laugh about it.
āKeepā, Bill said.Ā
What does that mean? Everything here is already āBillāsā, in a way. But the way he said it soundedā¦ oddly specific.Ā
A hopeful part of Dipper chimes in that it might just mean ānot let him bleed outā, but heās never been that lucky before, and thereās no reason it would start now.
With everything else going on. With the presence of a god. e.Ā
The cultists are bustling about; a few of them deposit things near Billās feet, like gifts upon the altar. Boxes, totems, more lit candles that Bill idly kicks over onto one of their robes, watching them flail at the sudden burst of fire.Ā
Eventually, Bill considered the task ādoneā, or close enough. He sighs, shaking his head. āAbout time, guys! Talk about slow. Hard to get good followers these days.ā
Bill clicks his tongue in distaste, then snaps his fingers.
Dipper hears a weird āzmmmā sound to his left. He notices that Billās suit is really soft material, and also that he probably shouldnāt be grabbing it like this.Ā
He doesnāt dare look at the sound. Not when Billās turned towards him with smug pride, like heās pulled off a plan without a hitch.Ā
āMan, it's only been fifteen minutes, and Iāve had it with these losers.ā Bill gives the congregation a look of disgust, then turns back to Dipper. That grin reemerges like the sunrise. āScrew these guys, am I right?ā
This time, Dipperās smile is involuntary. He quashes it fast, but not before Bill notices.
āThatās what I thought.ā Bill says, with deep pleasure. He takes a step closer to the altar, pulling Dipper along with a surprising lack of force. āSo! Whatādāya say we ditch this joint?ā
Dipper doesnāt know what that means. He doesnāt know whatās been happening, either, other than itās all been going way too fast.
But Bill Cipher is looking at him, still. Present, powerful. Eager for a response.Ā
Dipper just shrugs.
He wouldnāt know what to say even if he still had his tongue.Ā
āIāll take that as a yes.ā Bill says, eminently pleased. Pulling Dipper in closer, with an arm suddenly around his waist. āHold on tight! It aināt a bumpy ride, but itās a weird one.ā
Dipper follows as he walks. Partly on automatic, and partly because what the hell else is he supposed to do?
About three steps in, he realizes theyāre both walking on thin air, towards and over the altar.Ā
He jerks his head over, blinking at the source of that āzmmā sound.Ā
Because of course summoning am interdimensional god-being would leave a remnant. He had to come from somewhere.Ā
Like, say, a weird red-yellow gap in space, with nonsense things flung around in a black and bizarre starscape. Dipper catches a glimpse of something with two many limbs, and of a series of screaming mouths with no bodies, and a duck and a grandfather clock, tumbling through the air.Ā
Itās almost like it might be a nightmare dimension. Who could have thought.
With nothing else to cling to, his free hand clamps Billās shoulder, tight.Ā
āYouāre my guest for the next while, sapling.ā Bill says, squeezing him tight in return as he steps in - and drags Dipper alongside him, stalking into the portal. āGlad to have you!ā
#Let's see if I have any fun facts here#I am very tired!#I meant to sit on this and edit it more but I am Posting because of Reasons#Blame one of my cats for this#Sorry about all the setup#The next chapter which I have already started is where the REAL fun happens#In that whenever I think of some of the plot points I cackle and think 'Get Loved On Idiot'#So that's a hint as to what happens#Man I can never think of fun facts while I'm posting. Only afterwards#Anyway I hope this was a reasonably enjoyable read!
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ayoo guess who finally sat down and caught up with cultivate B)
is me. so you know what that means.
spoiler warning for cultivate ch 30-37
there was actually.... more things i wanted to draw but I already did so many I had to physically restrain myself hfsjkkdh anyway yes can you tell i love this fic very much
yet once again. cultivate by the wonderful @neonghostcat
#liushen#cultivate#cultivate: slow life on a monster infested mountain#mu qingfang#tagging him as well since theres lot of focus on him lol#and shen jiu as well u have to excuse me I love them they're meow meows#there was gonna be more sj content also but he ended up being cut in the end#wait- hdfdfhkj probably shouldnt talk about cutting something and SJ in the same sentence lmao jhfksdhfk ok bad joke sorry#anyway aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa absolutely deceased with all that has been revealed and covered in the past few chapter#actually dead wonderful powerful talented incredible showstopping never seen before#my most favourite part of cultive is its mysteries without a shadow of a doubt they're so intriguing and the reveal is ALWAYS sooo satisfyi#so the chain reaction of so many answers of the big ones tm? chefs kiss MWA#speaking of mysteries i never mentioned it before because I didn't know how to incorporate it without it being awkward but#for the longest time one particular piece of info has been rotting in my brain#and it was the off-hand comment on of the aqueduct by LQG#it is SO SILLY but THATS the one that has been just spinning in my brain FROM THEN ON ALL THE TIME it is indeed not the actually much coole#checkovs guns that have been setup nooo it was THIS hjkjsdfhksd I HAD TO KNOW where that was going AND NOW I KNOW I CAN REST EASY jsdhfkd#so yeah absolutely wonderful chapters indeed beautiful powerful#also some of you may noticed that time and time again I keep switching up the seniority between bai zhan and qian cao#and i have to formally apologize for that it is in fact not out of lack of attention to the text I'm just shdjkas#if im not mistaken qian caos position is not set in stone in canon so its free for grabs to put it in any of the free spots on the list#so i should respect neonghostcats (beloved i am so sorry) list in this case but i physically couldn't bring myself to write mqf as shidi#HSAJHS im sorry i am so biased and from doctors family i cannot put him in my head in peak seniority so low I'm sry i am legally not allowe#so lets just pretend i wrote it correctly ok sadhkas eyes closed xD#OOF th etags got long this time but im just SOOOO EXCITED WITH THIS FIC AND GOT FEELINGS OK BYE#anyway neonghostcat godspeed recovery buddy!!#also i hope using neonghostcat isnt like....calling u by your full name hdkfh but no idea to which parts i should shorten it either so hah
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Just give it time, Sammy. Give it time.
#jurassic world#jurassic world: camp cretaceous#bumpy#bumpy the ankylosaurus#ankylosaurus#sammy gutierrez#ben pincus#jwcc#camp cretaceous#my gifs#yasmina fadoula#first of all: close call for Sammy#she's lucky she got a dismissive bump from the club and not from the SHARP SPIKES ALONG THE TAIL#but also why is ben such a troll here#look at him#he's messing with her#the amount of time I put into this though...transcribing it properly and on-beat#turned out pretty good though#sorry about the squished format but this one just had to be this long#also the visuals in this scene...writers and boards knew what they were up to#this is a setup man#also can I just say how much I LOVE Bumpy's design??????????#rugged spikes and perfect colors#she's a BEAST and looks fantastic#but she moves so adorable#have a tiny tortoise and there's so many similar emotions and gestures#and yes they will spurn you in the same#safe harbor
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I'm gonna froth at the mouth over this in the tags so bear with me but reason #1278038 why the way rick went about breaking up jiper was bad: rereading her povs in hoo where she gushes over jason feels like even more of an unreliable narrator queer girl comphet psychological horror story
#it's not that that isn't interesting (it's fascinating actually. especially for a daughter of aphrodite!!!)#it's that it Obviously wasn't his og intention. the ending of hoo is clearly intended to give a positive impression of jiper#this is worsened because shelper is wildly underdeveloped so it's like Dude what did you even do this for#literally just an afterthought. a footnote really. he said āok here's your canon sapphic rep pls stop shipping theyna nowā /j#she was a main character in one of the main couples in hoo it's so crazy? how can that happen. he would never do this to percabeth#can you imagine if percabeth broke up offscreen and 2 months later annabeth was with some complete rando and then percy died. girl what#it's the kind of setup/payoff issue that is difficult to put into words because he set up something (jiper and all its complex morality)#to ultimately be good because they're making the choice to love each other in the end (poorly executed but whatever I don't hate it)#and then in toa????? he just obliterates them for no payoff and creates a new impression of the most literal case of comphet imaginable? wh#toa is my absolute least favorite sorry#marginally related but if we can Be. Chill. and acknowledge that he originally wrote nico as crushing on annabeth#(we can argue all day about how Definite the crush was but come on. he did not put percy's speculation of it in there for no reason)#(and he obviously did not plan for nico to be gay back then you will literally never convince me of this)#(representation was NOT on his mind in the first 5 books that's why the cast is almost completely white except charles and ethan)#(the disposable poc who die tragically btw)#then I see a similarly confusing debacle but like. in the opposite way#something something sexuality is fluid you can be gay and feel confused about how u used to have a het crush but are still gay#nico says so himself to piper which is hilarious#it's just the lack of consistency and poor planning that I hate........... it is a ginormous pet peeve of mine and it's All Over His Books#piper already reads as having so much growing to do regarding her gender and sexuality because Somebody#(the man writing her) littered her pov with internalized misogyny/anti hyperfemininity and went nowhere with it#rr crit#percy jackson and the olympians#piper mclean#jason grace#pjo hoo toa#anti jiper#<- I PROMISE I am not actually anti-jiper I am very neutral about it as I am with all jason ships. they had cute moments#tagging that just in case#this comes from a place of deep love for the franchise and it's characters btw I have been a fan since I was 8
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Sorry if this seems confrontational, but for the life of me I canāt get into your āChloe has no growthā point when the show itself retracts growth from everyone and is inconsistent with everyone. You saying āThe show just lays down basic character traits in Chloeā doesnāt make sense when her basic character traits are supposed to be her being selfish and spoiled.
S2 built off of that and despite what you say, had Chloe doing things that in S1 she wouldnāt have done. She apologized multiple times to the people she wronged, she willingly put herself in harmās way to help the people she cares about and she was openly vulnerable to Ladybug in āMalidiktaorā. Something S1 Chloe wouldnāt have done. If thereās a distinct difference between a Chloe back in S1 and a Chloe in S2, then growth HAS taken place. But it doesnāt stay because of the formula (and the writers just donāt want her to keep that growth)
So what Iām asking isā¦what do you mean āChloe doesnāt have growthā?
I can understand the āNo arcā argument because an unfinished arc feels like thereās no arc at all (even though they are fundamentally not the same)
I wouldn't say that the show retracts growth from everyone. It's more that no one is ever supposed to grow. Every episode resets the cast. That's just how pure formula shows work and Miraculous is being sold as a pure formula show. The characters are meant to be static (one of the writers literally compared Miraculous to Dora the Explorer).
That static nature is why pure formula shows normally avoid giving their good-guy characters major flaws. It's the wrong medium for that type of thing specifically because the characters cannot change in meaningful ways throughout the show. They can learn little lessons that don't really change them and maybe have big change between seasons via a special or movie, but that's about it. Thus things like the season four conflict working so poorly. It's just a terrible choice for a formula show! The conflict is literally not allowed to develop properly because of the chosen format.
But sure, let's talk about Chloe and why I will die on the hill that she never demonstrated meaningful improvement even with the issue of the inconstant writing. In fact, seasons-one-to-three Chloe is one of the most consistent characters in the show. For this discussion to work, we need to start off by discussing character development and the two main forms it can take: character establishment and character growth.
Character Establishment
When the audience meets a character, they know nothing about said character. It's up to the writer to guide the introduction process. To choose when to reveal already existing elements of the character's personality, skills, and backstory. This is called character establishment. It is the writing telling you who the character is on a baseline level. Those reveals don't need to happen at the start of the story, though. They can be - and often are - held back for when the time is right.
When these reveals are delayed, it's important to remember that these elements were always part of the character. The reveal isn't changing who the character actually is. It's just changing how the audience views the character.
For example, we spend a good chunk of season one uncertain why Gabriel is doing what he does. Then, in Origins, we learn that it's all for Emilie. This is new information that adds depth to Gabriel's character, but it doesn't change him in any way. This is who he always was. We just know him better now and can recontextualize past events with our new understanding of his motivation.
Character Growth
Character growth is when writers take a character's personality or world view or even just their skills from point A to point B, allowing the audience to watch the character change and become a new better - or lesser - version of themself. This is usually part of a larger character arc where all the moments of growth add up, but it can take the form of small moments of growth that don't fit into a bigger picture, too. I'd probably still call that an arc, but we'll use the word "growth" a lot in this post, so let's just call it growth to be consistent.
Miraculous doesn't really have either arcs or growth because - once again - formula shows don't allow characters to meaningfully change, so I'm going to have to make up an example here. I'll use one that illustrates how character establishment and character growth can and do intertwine as that's an important thing to acknowledge to help guide this discussion.
Let's say that we have a character who lost their family at a young age. We'll call this character Mary. Mary's loss guides her character throughout the entire story, but the other characters and the audience are never told that this is what's going on. We just know that Mary acts in seemingly illogical ways at times and that she trusts no one.
Throughout the story, Mary learns to trust her costars, leading to a big, dramatic scene where she finally tells them - and the audience - about her past. This big dramatic scene is both the culmination of a character arc and a piece of baseline character establishment that allows us to understand Mary's character better no matter what part of the story we're reading.
Because these combo growth and establishment moments are so common in stories, it can feel like character growth when we learn new things about a character in a dramatic moment, but that's not always what's happening. Sometimes dramatic moments are just there to reveal what was always there by forcing a character to act differently than they usually do through the power of extenuating circumstances. These extenuating-circumstances moments are not character growth because, once the moment is over, the character resets to their normal self. The moment wasn't there to let them grow. It was there for the sake of the plot.
This is actually a really important thing that writers need to know how to do. Figuring out what circumstances will make a character say or do a thing they generally wouldn't say or do is part of how stories work. I have started stories with characters acting wildly "out of character" because I put them in the a situation where the behavior suddenly was in character!
Oh, you don't want to talk to this total stranger because you're an introvert with social anxiety who has yet to learn how to love yourself and open up to others? That's nice. Your leg is broken now and you're stuck in the middle of nowhere. What you gonna do sucker? Lie there in the dirt or talk to the nice lady who wants to help you? Your choice! (Spoiler: he talked to the nice lady. He even let her physically support him when he'd usually never let a stranger touch him!)
As soon as that scene was over, the character reverted because it wasn't growth. He didn't become a more open person. He just did something he normally wouldn't do because the situation demanded it. It was extenuating circumstances so that the freaking plot could start.
This is what happened with Chloe in season two. Everything that people call growth is really just extenuating circumstances that reset by the end of the episode or even by the end of the scene.
Let's Talk About Chloe
Chloe does not have a character arc, aborted or otherwise. She is never taken on a journey where we watch her change. All we get is delayed character establishment via extenuating circumstances, but it's given in ways that make some people feel like she was being given an arc. Let's talk about why that is.
Season one Chloe is a one dimensional mean girl. She has almost no depth. She's just here to be petty and cause akumas. She is not a fully realized character.
Season two takes those traits and keeps them, but also gives Chloe a lot more depth to round her out and make her feel like a real character. She's just as petty and mean as she always was, but we're finally allowed to see her in some moments that make her feel like a well of potential to become something more, which the writers basically had to do if they wanted to let her be a hero. The audience needed to feel like Chloe could be good in the right situation.
The feelings evoked by her newly discovered depth are why people go "oh, she had a character arc! My feelings about her changed in a big way!" But she didn't have an arc. You just got to know her better by seeing her in moments where she was forced to be vulnerable. That's not growth. Growth is meaningful, lasting change, not situational change. Everyone changes based on the situation! It's why the "True Selves" stuff is such nonsense. It implies that there's one set way that we're supposed to act in order to be authentic and anything else is some kind of lie which just isn't how the world works.
Let's look at some examples to drive home what I mean.
Season one established that Chloe idolized Ladybug. It's why we get things like this moment from Evil Illustrator:
Ladybug:Ā Fine! You stay! Later! Cat Noir:Ā What do you mean later? Ladybug:Ā I mean, you're the one who wants to protect her, so you don't need me. So, later!Ā (swings away) ChloĆ©:(looks over balcony)Ā Ahhh! Ladybug! Text me! OK!
And this confession from Antibug:
Ladybug:Ā [Chloe] pretended she was me?! How often does that happen? Armand:Ā She idolizes you.
So Chloe adores Ladybug and wants to impress her/be her best friend. Cool. Got it. That never goes anywhere in season one because season one doesn't see Chloe and Ladybug interact much. The most we get is Ladybug saving Chloe from akumas, which doesn't allow for deep conversations. I don't think that they're ever alone in a moment where they can actually talk.
That changes in season two. In season two, they get to interact a lot and it's often in moments where there's a big threat and no one else is around, letting us see a new side to Chloe. But that's not Chloe changing. It's just the writers revealing that Chloe has more to her than the mean girl stuff because of course she does! Pure mean girls don't exist. Everyone has depth. We simply never saw that depth before because Chloe was never put in a situation where she needed to be open. We can't say that season one Chloe wouldn't confess things to Ladybug or chose to sacrifice herself to let Ladybug win because she never had the chance to do those things!
In fact, I'd go so far as to argue that season one Chloe probably would have done the same things as season two Chloe because season two Chloe doesn't really contradict season one Chloe. Antibug showed us that Chloe was pretty desperate to be loved and welcomed the way that Ladybug is loved and welcomed:
ChloĆ©:Ā Jagged Stone! Jagged:Ā (thinking she's the actual Ladybug)Ā Ladybug! What are you doing here? ChloĆ©:Ā Umā¦ when I find out you were here, I knew you'd wanna see me! I had to come say hello.Ā (Sabrina waves at Jagged)
and Chloe has always been a stubborn girl who stands up for what she wants even if what she wants is something bad. Antibug also showed us that Chloe can be genuinely nice to the people she cares about. Her and Sabrina's relationship is shown to be complex with them often having a lot of fun together.
Similarly, Origins sees Chloe showing her father genuine affection after she's saved from Stoneheart:
[Image description: Chloe and Andre hugging and looking very happy to be together]
Origins is the baseline episode that tells us who the characters are on day one, so I never once doubted that Chloe loved Andre, but Andre didn't get akumatized because of Chloe's actions in season one. He didn't even get akumatized for something that Chloe had nothing to do with! His first akumatization is in season two, so it's not shocking that we don't get a Malidiktaor type scene until Malidiktaor.
Chloe was vulnerable with her personal hero when her beloved parent was in danger, but not before? Shocking! Who would have guessed?
Me. I would have guessed. I didn't even realize that people were reading it as some sort of character growth because it clearly wasn't. Malidiktaor didn't feel like something new for Chloe's character. It just felt like the writers were leaning into things that we'd always known about Chloe and using them to better establish her character as someone who genuinely cares about select people. She just doesn't show most of the time.
The same thing goes for Chloe's sacrifice and apology in Zombizou. Chloe only sacrifices herself when there's no one left but her and Ladybug. When the choice is to let the terrorist win or take the hit and let you personal hero save the day. Brave? Sure, but also not growth. Chloe is team Ladybug for all of seasons one, two, and three! She wants Ladybug to like her! Plus even a petty brat can have moments of goodness where they pick a hero over a literal terrorist.
This honestly would have been a damming moment if Chloe didn't sacrifice herself. She functionally had no other choice here. The entire episode builds itself to the self-sacrifice moment so that Chloe is forced to make that choice even though she's been her petty bratty self throughout the whole attack. It's genuinely solid writing.
Then, in the heightened emotions directly after the Zombizou win, we get this:
Miss Bustier:Ā But I hurt a lot of people... ChloĆ©:Ā No... I did... I forgot your birthday, once again. And when I saw everyone had prepared a gift for you, I totally lost it. Because I, too, would've liked to offer you something. I'm sorry, Miss Bustier. Miss Bustier:Ā Thank you, ChloĆ©. Those words are the best possible gift you could ever give me.Ā (hugs ChloĆ©) (ChloĆ© hugs her back, forgetting herself for a moment.) ChloĆ©:Ā Huh?... Uh, yeah. Okay then, we're all good.
A brief moment of vulnerability that quickly ends and does not stick around because Chloe's change was situational, not true growth. The next scene of that episode starts with Chloe being her usual self:
ChloĆ©:Ā Me? You wantĀ meĀ to apologize to the entire class? Ridiculous! They should be thanking me for saving everybody.
And ends with the reveal of Chloe's gift to Miss Bustier, which was given in private via a note.
Once again, nothing new for Chloe's character. She acts as she always has, being mean to everyone while having moments of vulnerability when things get tense. Remember that hug between her and her father that we talked about earlier? Same concept. She had just almost died from an akuma attack and so she needed some emotional support, leading her to act more openly loving than she usually does when he's around. Once the moment is over, she reverts to the petty mean girl default.
Giving gifts to placate people is also something that we've seen before. A pretty similar thing happens at the end of Evil Illustrator, it's just played less sympathetic towards Chloe because the writers weren't giving her depth back then:
Sabrina:Ā Too late. ChloĆ© and I are doing the project together. Marinette:Ā You mean, you're doing the project? Sabrina:Ā Well, of course! After all she's been through... Marinette:Ā Ughhh.... Nice new beret, by the way. Sabrina:Ā I know, right! ChloĆ© lent it to me. She really is my BFF! ChloĆ©! Your geography homework's ready!
For any of this to be character growth, we need to see Chloe act differently over time. For her to be put in similar situations and get different outcomes, but we don't see that in part because Chloe didn't change and in part because season one didn't do much to develop Chloe's deeper side. We rarely see her alone or in moments of extreme vulnerability, but you need those moments to show her depth. That's why Despair Bear had Chloe crying alone after Adrien threatened to end her friendship and not before. Chloe is very reluctant to openly show depth. You have to force it out of her, which perfectly fits the character we met in season one.
Even her standing up to Hawkmoth and rejecting the akuma isn't character growth in my opinion. Chloe has always stood up to authority and demanded whatever she wants. She has wanted to be Ladybug's friend and be seen as a hero since season one, so it's not shocking that her extremely strong will would allow her to defy a terrorist. If there is anyone in this show who can stand up to a terrorist on shear "no!" power alone, it's little miss I-always-get-what-I-want. I could see a variation of this happening at any point in the show, just change Chloe's reason for defying Gabriel to match the situation. Rework these lines to be about a party that she wanted to go to and I'd still totally buy it:
ChloĆ©:Ā No, Hawk Moth! I am a superheroine!Ā I am Queen Bee! Ladybug will come and get me when she needs me!Ā I WILL NEVER JOIN YOU!Ā (throws her photo onto the ground as the akuma exits it... and pants)
Chloe acted like a hero here because she wants all the perks of being a hero and can't believe that Ladybug would actually bench her. That's impossible! Ladybug wouldn't do that!
As soon as Chloe accepts that she won't be a hero again, Chloe stops acting heroic because acting heroic wasn't growth. It was her playing a part the same way she played a part in Despair Bear. She was doing what she needed to do to be Queen Bee again and not because it's the right thing to do. This would only be real growth if she rejected the akuma after accepting that she wouldn't be Queen Bee again, but that's not what happens. As soon as she accepts that she's out, she no longer has any reason to play nice. She never grew into a character who did what's right for the sake of doing the right thing. It's always been about getting what she wants or being seen how she wants to be seen. Until that changes, she hasn't changed.
So no, Chloe didn't have an aborted arc. They didn't start to redeem her and then change their minds. All they did was make Chloe one of the most complex characters in the show only to then not do anything with the character they wasted our time establishing, ignoring the complexity they gave her while also cranking her mean dial up to the point of absurdity where she's not even fun in her original role anymore.
I get why it feels like she had an aborted arc. The fact that the character establishment was delayed makes it feel like something shiny and new about Chloe. There's also the fact that the character establishment we get in season two is the kind of character establishment that you'd do if you were setting up for a redemption arc, but that doesn't change the fact that it was all establishment work. None of it was a true arc where we watched Chloe grow. We just saw her put in situations that revealed hidden depths.
Her showing depth is not her growing because when in the world does she show off this supposed growth? She only acts differently in the type of scenes that we've never seen her in before or around characters that we've never seen her truly interact with before. When she's around the established teen characters or in her usual scenes, then she acts the same way that she always has. We never see her be genuinely nice to Marinette or something like that. She's only nice to Ladybug and she's still rude to Chat Noir. That's not character growth! That's character establishment that can then be used to guide character growth!
Same thing goes for the stuff in Despair Bear. We learn that Adrien can push Chloe to be better, but he never does it again and she reverts as soon as he lets her off the hook, so it wasn't character growth! It was just Chloe establishing that she can play nice when she needs to. This means that she could grow if the story chose to take her down that path because we've established that she knows what being nice looks like. Fake it til you make it plot go, go, go! But the plot never went, went, went so meh?
Add in the fact that season one was a bit of a test season with lots of elements that got dropped and the fact that characterization in this show has always been wildly inconsistent from episode to episode and I'm really not seeing a strong argument for Chloe having an intentional arc that somehow got aborted. People just saw the potential for her to have one and argue that potential is the same as an aborted arc when it really, really isn't.
To give an analogy, Chloe's story is like walking into the kitchen and seeing grandma laying out the ingredients for her famous chocolate chip cookies. We get excited because, hey, cookies! Then we come back an hour later and there are no cookies. Nor is there some other sweet that uses the same ingredients. There's just ingredients, sitting unused in their original packaging, making us wonder what the heck grandma was up to. At the same time, she never really started making cookies. She just set out ingredients. They're still there, totally unused, waiting to be made into something, so we can't call them a failed cookie attempt. That implies a level of commitment that was never there. She didn't even say that she was making cookies! We just assumed she was because we, understandably, wanted cookies and wanted to believe that grandma had a purpose to her actions.
#ml writing critical#ml writing salt#chloe deserves better#I did initially think that they were going to redeem Chloe#But they only ever did the initial setup work#They never committed to anything#In fact I though Queen Bee's intro was the writers saying that she wouldn't be redeemed#And that the hero Chloe thing was just a fakeout to make people watch season two#Which is still what I think Queen Bee was#The writers love cheap fakeouts like ending a season on a mass reveal that then goes nowhere#Chloe's writing is par for the course and not anything especially bad compared to the rest of the show#Queen Bee was just an excuse to make you keep watching#Chloe was never getting redeemed or even properly damned#Is that deeply frustrating? Yes#But it's also the most logical read of her story with strong backing in the text itself#I'm not a fan of the conspiracy theories about the writers sabotaging her on purpose#That's just not how this goes#Sorry to disappoint but occam's razor applies to writing too#Bad writing is just infinitely more logical than a bunch of writers purposefully risking their careers to get back at online randos#Chloe stans are just not that important or influential#I can point to so many shows where people came up with insane theories to justify the bad writing and it's just...#I get the desire for complex reasons to explain why a thing you loved failed you but that's just not a logical conclusion in most situation#Nor is it all that healthy to go down those conspiracy rabbit holes. That's just going to damage your mental health#Curious to see the reaction to this one#Remember we're talking about fiction here and play nice please
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Deku
For a moment he just looked at me. I like his eyes like this. He looked as if he was longing for an answer. An answer that I canāt give him. He stared a little longer into my eyes, and I wondered if I was as hard to read as he was. Suddenly I had an entirely new concern and I physically felt my face shift to something more opaque. Almost immediately a confused look appeared on his then he dropped my hand and slowly the anger in his eyes returned and he turned to walk away from me to the dorm. I wanted to tell him to wait. I wanted to tell him to stop. I wanted to tell him how I felt and what I wanted more than anything was for him to keep holding my hand. To keep looking into each other's eyes, but the moment was over maybe the only moment we would ever have. Was it enough for me to live with? The next three days will be unbearable. The next three days cleaning and cooking, no classes all alone. Well all alone except Kacchan who hates me. Or maybe I need to look at it differently. The next three days with Kacchan and a chance to get him to stop hating me. The next three days to get another moment with him, another chance to look into his eyes, to hold his hand, and maybe to get him to tell me how he feels before I embarrass myself telling him the answer to the question he asked me tonight. What I want.
~~~
KacchanĀ
That damn nerd. Looking at me like that. Refusing to speak. He thinks I care. I refuse to be weak. I have trained hard to come this far and become this strong. I won't allow him to be another thing I worry about. Maybe I didnāt allow him enough time to speakā¦ No that canāt be it his face completely shut down. I wonāt allow him to get another chance at making me weak. At becoming my weakness. That's why I wonāt look back. I donāt care if I know he is standing there looking like a pathetic weakling. If I look back now there is no telling what I would do. Iād probably start another fight, and then the next four days of house arrest would turn into seven. Ugh the next three days with that damn nerd. Damn it. I didnāt even think about how many opportunities heād have to talk to me when we are alone, to try and make me weak. Iāll just have to avoid him.Ā
~~~
Deku
I woke up early to work out before I went to make breakfast for my classmates but when I got downstairs Kacchan had already finished preparing it. He had plated it up for everyone including me. He looked at me. For a moment it felt just like last night. It was soft and kind, then the anger appeared on his face as he quickly grabbed his plate and walked by me. I may be wrong but I think he slowed down as he passed. Maybe he wanted to say something. More likely he wanted to hit me.Ā
~~~
Kacchan
I woke up early so I wouldnāt have to see him. The plan was to be back upstairs before he was even out of bed. Subconsciously as I cooked I knew I was going too slow. I knew he was going to come down. I knew that I would see him. When he walked down I wasnāt shocked. I was relieved to see him one time, but after this no more. I grabbed my plate and began to walk back to my room. He just stared and as I got closer I thought of all the things I could say to him to extend this moment in time. To extend the amount of time I got to look at him. I had to remind myself that was the weakness in me trying to claw its way out. So instead I just said āDinner is on you.ā Then I walked up to my room. I started hearing everyone else get ready and go down to eat. A little while after classes had started I heard a knock at my door. I knew it had to be that damn nerd.Ā
~~~
Deku
It was easy to come up with a plan. The question then was would it be easy to execute. Could I lie to Kacchan? I mean it was easy enough to believe he probably wouldnāt question it, but he definitely would hate it.Ā
~~~
Kacchan
I didnāt want to answer, but I figured he was just going to divide up the work which is good because it means that I could strategically plan my day to avoid him. I opened the door and there he was looking like a puppy. Eyes wide and excited as if doing chores was better that training or going to class. Personally I canāt think of anything worse than falling behind the rest of our class granted I could probably miss a whole week and those idiots still couldnāt beat me.Ā
āHi Kacchan! I figured we could get started working so that way we have enough time to do some private studying and training together.ā Even the implication that we would work together made me sick to my stomach.Ā
āWho said anything about doing this together? Give me half the list and Iāll get my stuff done while you get your half of the list done. This is a divide and conquer situation.ā
~~~
Deku
This is it. The only way I am going to get him to spend time with me.
āWell actually Aizawa stopped by while you were up here. He said in order to increase our teamwork and prevent us from fighting again we are supposed to complete every task together.ā I almost immediately regretted saying that. The door slammed immediately.Ā
I waited there. All I wanted was to spend time with him so heād forgive me for last night
~~~
Kacchan
Three days with Deku. Cleaning together. Training together. How am I supposed to look at him after last night? I all but told him how I felt, and in return he shut down. I donāt wanna be embarrassed. I donāt wanna look weak in front of him. I want to be strong for him. I can do this. I can make it through three days with him without becoming weak. Maybe it will make me stronger. I took a deep breath and reopened my door. Standing in front of me was Midoriaya looking like a broken toy.Ā
~~~
Deku
The door reopened. I looked up and I could have swore I saw a glimpse of sympathy on his face before it shifted to something a bit more resentful. He reached his arm up to scratch the back of his head. His arm was so well defined it was as if he was trying to tease me. Draw me in so he can dominate me emotionally as he did physically last night. Maybe I made a mistake. Was it too late to take it back and divide the list evenly?
āI say we train first that way whatever mess we make we can clean up afterwards. Iāll meet you downstairs in 5 minutes. Go change into something to work out in. You better be ready too. The next time we fight I want you to at least try and beat me.ā He said. I felt a little anger and a little excitement build up in me.Ā
āI will beat you!ā I practically screamed.Ā
āYou better or I swear to god Iāll kill you.ā He said as he closed his door.Ā
~~~
Kacchan
I think I found a solution for my problem. If I wanted to be able to tell that damn nerd how I felt without creating another weakness he needed to be strong enough to defeat anything that came at him. Including me. I am going to push him until he breaks.
I changed into some athletic shorts and a sleeveless shirt and headed downstairs. There he was waiting for me. To mats set up on the floor weights nearby. He was stretching his legs leaning back and forth. I just stood there and watched for a moment. I forget how efficient he is. He doesnāt like to waste time so he made sure to set everything up so we could have a good workout session. It seemed like his entire demeanor had changed; upstairs he was acting like a beaten dog now he seemed enthusiastic about training together. He had come so far from the weekling he was when we were younger. Yet he still had a type of childlike enthusiasm that I canāt help but notice. I just kind of continued to look at him until I noticed he was looking back.Ā
āHow long have you been there? You said five minutes itās been nearly fifteen. I would have figured you would have been on time considering your threat.ā
āI-- I just got down here you damn idiot. Itās none of your business, but I figured Iād brush my teeth considering I just ate. Speaking of which, don't forget you are responsible for cooking dinner. I made breakfast so I will stand there and watch so that we are still āworking togetherāā I retorted.Ā
I grabbed a weight and before I even began to curl it that idiot stopped me.Ā
āArenāt you going to stretch first?ā He asked.Ā
āListen you damn nerd. In a real fight you wonāt have time to stretch, that's a weak mentality to have.ā
āLook, let me help you. I've already stretched so I can make sure you hit all the muscles we plan to work out today.āĀ
āWho said you're leading this work out? Iām In charge here. Obviously you're the one that needs help cause you donāt even have control over the full capacity of your power.āĀ
āIf we are supposed to be increasing our teamwork, we should compromise. Iāll help you stretch--ā
āI DONāT NEED YOUR HELP! I can stretch on my own then we can get started.āĀ He is so infuriating. That's when he took a step forward.Ā
āFine, tell me what to do and I'll do whatever you say.ā He said. I donāt know why, but that statement made me blush a little. Hopefully he interpreted it as rage rather than anything else.Ā
We finished stretching relatively quickly and can I just say that his range of motion is insane. I could practically fold him into any position I wanted.
āOk. Letās get started!āĀ
We did a couple simple workouts. That's when I got an idea. One that would give me an excuse to get close to him. If I was going to have to be around him for the next three days I might as well enjoy myself. I let him finish his rep then I threw a punch. It hit him right in the side. He turned to face me quickly. I could sense the power surging in him. I smiled.Ā
~~~
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#mha fanfic#boku no hero fanfic#myrelationshipacademia#my hero academia fanfic#my hero#my hero academia fanfiction#mha bakugou#mha deku#mha bkdk#deku midoriya#bakugou katsuki#boku no hero academia#boku no hero academia fanfiction#bnha fanfiction#bnha#i hope youāre all ready for NOTHING#sorry about leading yall on but this is all a setup for the next chapter which will probably be out before the end of the week
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Something I appreciate about Hortus de Escapismo is how it portrays the Laterans and non-Laterans, especially in contrast to each other. Guide Ahead already gave us the angel ethnostate vs multi-racial heretics, which made for a pretty effective if blatant commentary on Laterano. And while it might seem Hortus is kind of repeating the same formula, I think it's got something subtler going on with interesting implications.
On one side we have the abbey's inhabitants: sankta, sarkaz and all other races--hell, even a seaborn for a moment. Are there cracks here and there? Of course, that's a whole plot point. But it can't be denied there is genuine camaraderie and self-sacrifice going on between these people who are simply trying to survive together (which is what makes those cracks all the more volatile).
Contrast this with the Laterans, who are dysfunctional as hell. Lemuen, Oren, Richele, and Spuria; I can't say I fully parsed everything happening between them on a moment-to-moment basis, but it was overall apparent that none of these people trust each other. Even though they're friends and classmates and colleagues, even though they're working for the good of the same state, even though they're sankta who can literally read each other's minds. There's just this constant mess of cahoots and conspiracy and treachery and bitter friction, and it takes the threat of an Innsmouth-Jonestown crossover event to get them to finally work together.
I thought it was a nice way to show more of Laterano's flaws. It's one of their core themes that they aren't as great as they say they are, but you'd think they would, at the least, have blessed harmony thanks to their literal hivemind. But evidently that isn't true either. And again, these are agents at the highest levels of the government. If they're this dysfunctional, what does that say for Laterano as a whole?
Which leads me into thinking about what the future of Laterano might have in store. I've seen some folks point out how these events have these greatly compelling premises that don't actually resolve any of the issues they bring up. Laterano only remains Laterano. And this is true! But I think it's intentional, setting up a slow burn of a regional conflict. The Lateran state is holding together, the status quo remains unchanged, the Law is content. But for how much longer? Guiding Ahead introduced us to the divide in Laterano on a broad level, the state vs heretics. Hortus de Escapismo shows the cracks within the state, narrowing in on individuals who nominally should be on the same side but aren't. The next logical narrative step would be seeing the state finally cracking apart from whatever looming danger the Law sainted Federico to deal with.
Some sort of schism, perhaps; that seems like the sort of existential threat that would directly threaten the Law's directive of preserving the Sankta. Law's awareness of it would also imply it's an internal threat, something festering in the hearts and minds of Sankta and thus one It's able to sense (at least that's what makes sense to me. We don't actually know how the Law works, so it could very well just have random magic prophetic abilities). And especially with the constant background pressure of trying to legitimize their Summit of Nations, what better way to drive that issue to the forefront by throwing Laterano into utter political chaos?
#arknights#a genuine schism would probably result in. so many fallen huh. would be interesting seeing laterano's community struggle with that#maybe the threat has something to do with the iberian church and seaborn? considering those were elements that appeared in hortus#and they were discussing a potential reconciliation between laterano and iberia too. reads like setup to me.#reaching out to iberia would be ripe for a widescale collision of ideologies that could lead to another schism#and for iberia it'd also be thematically relevant given their other estranged relationship w another glorious near mythical country#also i want to see the sankta face the seaborn. they're not so different if you think about it.#precursor tech hiveminds dedicated to the group's survival. one is hyperadaptive and ever spreading the other is conservative and insular.#so the ideological threat of a schism and the physical threat of the seaborn#...or maybe also the ideological threat of seaborn? they have their own church too after all#PAPAL SCHISM ARKNIGHTS EDITION. 3 POPES 3 POPES. LATERANO IBERIA WE MANY#oh uh and again a schism would result in so many fallen which could tie in the whole. yknow. thousand year race war w the sarkaz.#that's kinda super duper really important for laterano's themes#sorry i'm just writing a whole other post in these tags :P
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as someone who isnt super excited for sotm for certain reasons I am really glad that like. it's clear that since ruin theyve been setting up for carnival and sotm IS carnival. so now that carnival is finally coming out, afterwards theyll be moving on to other plotlines since the main villain stuff is sorted out
I'm just rlly happy to finally see a clear direction for how the story is gonna be playing out with like "okay these games were leading up to this so after this will be open possibilites" instead of like. absolutely no info about each upcoming game and being left guessing before it releases and just having to wait and see what's in it and if anything you're looking forward to will be in it
it feels like they have a plan and a solid direction for what they're trying to do and after carnival releases thatll be all that buildup coming to fruition. & we already know from the Scott interview that theres another release 'beyond sotm' that's 'super exciting' so maybe thatll be focusing on another big currently untouched (which is basically all of them) plotline, or even the big campaign game that dawko has been calling security breach 2
#even if i dislike how theyve been handling this whole mimic cassies dad factory mapbot bonnie bully stuff#the past like 2 releases 3 after sotm#after watching johns theory video it really does feel like stuff was more purposeful with thought put into it when u plug in cassies dad#even if the plot of him being behind mxes and trapping mimic is pushing other more important characters aside#its probably what happened and accepting that makes the story at least seem more thought out#it did make me feel better about it bc like. it at least feels like theyre cooking#like what theyre working on DOES have a direction and a plan and it isnt just random stuff like how it felt when hw2 came out#i might still think that the stuff theyve been doing the past few releases is boring af and uninteresting#compared to earlier concepts like focusing on vanny and the possession aspects and sentient glamrocks#(we could see more of it with freddy if theyd let him come back ever)#but like. at least it has thought put into it and feels like theyre actually trying to set shit up for something#like sotm is an ORIGIN#the tagline was 'sometimes you have to understand the past to see the future'#at the end of the day sotm is a setup for a campaign thatll take place in present day anf#even if its taking ten thousand years to get there im excited for it#aka its taken a long time to tell this story setup of cassies dad and mimic and shit and it might be boring for some people#(me)#but at the end of the day its meant to be setup explaining the past of why mimic exists (even if that's already in tbe books)#so after we 'understand' it we can get back to present day#and focus on its current victims vanessa gregory cassie etc#cassies dad is 100% dead if hw2s protag is him so he woukdnt be relevant anymore. just another character thing to serve cassie#im just saying like after sotm its wide open for getting back to the plot#and i think its actually right to say that bc like all of this has been setup. if hw2 protag is cassies dad its a prequel to ruin#so rn ruin is the most recent game in the timeline. meaning the next game that takes place in current tjme will focus on the current mains#Gregory cassie vanessa#sorry for fnaf plot posting again ive been thinking about it a lot the past few days#thought id balance some negative ive posted with a positive since im feeling better about it myself :)#one day we're gonna be so back and its gonna be great#its just gonna be a long annoying wait lmao#thoughts
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If you haven't already you should probably check out zoochosis, I think there will be a character you MIGHT like. Either way the infected designs are absolutely amazing and I love them
I know NOTHING about this gameās story or whatnot but this man can GET IT!! šš
#zoochosis#doc zoochosis#teddy's artwork#teddy's art#digital art#athenaj0y#I will probably continue to know nothing about this game#since Iām not a fan for the devs using AI voices#but when I saw this man during the first ten minutes of someoneās playthrough#I screamed#so loud#the POSITIONS THEY PUT HIM IN#ALMOST TOOK ME OUT#I love him heās the only thing from this game I care about#the whole setup is cool but#I dunno if I would get invested#doc art is all yāall getting from me from here on out#at least in terms of this game#sorry not sorry
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frickin shite that was the worst small group I've ever been to in my life
#the eisegesis made me want to rattle out of my bones in frustration#got corrected for trying to cross-reference because ''we only stick to our one passage'' and nearly fucking cried about it#I PHYSICALLY CANNOT NOT CROSS-REFERENCE SCRIPTURE#not only is it a shitty hermeneutical process but it's also just Not How My Brain Works!!#y'all have seen me crossreference on this blog it isn't just the Bible! I can't Not crossreference things to save my life#and I basically got (admittedly she was trying to be kind about it) corrected in front of the entire group of 20somethings#and the couple that leads it are so PARTICULAR and nitpicky and it has to be done their way or you're gonna get corrected#my first introduction to her was her coming up to me while I was working the sound booth and telling me about something#wrong with my production setup that I KNEW ABOUT and WAS AND STILL AM NOT ABLE TO CHANGE#(our camera for livestreams doesn't have a high enough mount and I don't have space to extend it higher so we catch the tops#of people's heads in the camera shot)#and the girl I went bc I want to get to know her better WASNT EVEN THERE#I spent the entire time trying not to cry or look at anyone#I need to find a different small group... sorry all the kids my age were nice but I can't handle the structure or leaders#Lu rambles#adulthood woes
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the au ask game for your alternate s5 where lena invents the power dampening device instead of non nocere please!!!!
OK YES i have my computer now so here are 5 things that would happen in that AU. keeping in mind that the genesis of this AU is that i was playing around with the question of, essentially, how i would write s5 if i were operating under the same storytelling constraints that i have reason to believe the cwsg writers were operating under [i.e. all of s1-s4 is canon, crisis is coming & will revive lex, james is āļø outta here, sc can be implied at most]:
Andrea Rojas is not a tech mogul; rather, she left her rich father to his own business and is the editor-in-chief of an independent paper in Mexico when she gets the call from Lena offering to sell her CatCo. Andrea's vision for the magazine is simple: she wants to transform it into the first pro-alien anti-Super publication on the market, and she wants her employees to dig into the actions of Supergirl & the DEO and see what they can find. With help from Brainy, Kara writes an expose on the DEO's history of disappearing aliens without due process and Supergirl's complicity in the matter. As a result, Supergirl's reputation takes a massive hit.
Former members of the Children of Liberty start showing up dead around National City, with the killer nicknamed "El Muerto" by the press. The killer is eventually revealed to be Pablo Valdez, a member of Kelly's old unit and secretly an alien, who was left adrift after coming home from deployment only to be captured and tortured by the Children of Liberty. He plans to take revenge on the Children of Liberty, one dead member for each alien who died while serving in the military. Kelly manages to catch up with him just as he plans to take revenge in honor of her late fiancee, who had partial alien heritage, and she talks him down. But she also protects him from Alex's attempt to arrest him, which causes friction in their burgeoning relationship.
James and Kelly visit Calvintown, where Mama Olsen shows them how the water in town has been contaminated by runoff from a nearby military base, which James realizes belongs to the DEO. The DEO have been paying off the local press, the Calvintown Chronicle, to suppress the story. James, already disillusioned by Kara's expose and by what Pablo endured at the hands of the Children of Liberty, decides to give up being Guardian. He offers CatCo an exclusive interview, conducted by Kara, where he discusses the good and bad of superheroes, apologizes for his part in legitimizing the Children of Liberty, and announces his plan to start an independent newspaper in Calvintown. At his going-away party, James and Lena talk and Lena admits she was sorely tempted to buy the Calvintown Chronicle, fire everyone on staff, and put James in charge, but she figured he wouldn't appreciate that. He thanks her for not doing that, and tells her not to be a stranger. The Superfriends give him a photo album of pictures of him they've taken over the years, and he heads off to Calvintown.
While Supergirl and Guardian's reputations plummet, Dreamer briefly becomes National City's most popular hero before causing intracommunity drama when her powers get a little out of control in a fight and she accidentally causes structural damage to a gay bar. She gives an interview to attempt to smooth things over, only to anger parts of the trans community who feel that she espoused a simplistic assimilationist narrative, that she is too privileged to be a real spokesperson on trans issues, and/or that she should talk about trans issues more. The Superfriends help Nia repair the damage to the gay bar, whose owners, a pair of older butch lesbian friends, acknowledge that being the first openly trans superhero can't be easy and encourage her to listen to feedback but not bend herself out of shape trying to please everyone.
Lena and Eve (who she has roped into helping her) work on the superpower-dampening device throughout this, while also trying to translate a coded message left by Lex for Lena whose only word they can seem to decipher is "Monitor". Kara's actions in the interim (such as stealing Lex's journals to please Lena even when Lena tells her that's not necessary) convince Lena further that limits should be imposed on superpowers. Eventually Lena and Eve determine that to ensure the device can adapt to any species' physiology, they will need to use a piece of Kryptonian tech which is held in the Fortress of Solitude. Kara invites Lena there to look for a solution to stop Malefic (who this whole time has also been trying to steal J'onn's friends away to the Phantom Zone. classic Malefic amirite), and we get the fortress reveal/uno reverso betrayal scene where Lena steals the Kryptonian tech and restrains Kara with kryptonite before portaling away.
This has all been 5A stuff, which I've worked out in much more detail (along with Crisis, which I've outlined in full at this point), but to tease 5B a little, it involves the original Brainiac, who in this AU is a woman (Meaghan Rath is right there I'm just saying), and who I've decided is the head of Leviathan, because the end of S4 demands that I include Leviathan in S5.
#most of this is not actually about the superpower dampening device sorry it's largely setup#sideguitars#up up and away#all the pits are full of voles
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I've been thinking and thinking. Call me a researcher or just a stranger. And something's been gnawing on my mind.
I didn't know Herobrines could reproduce let alone be female. There's an overabundance in males and females are a rarity from my observation. That is such an odd thing. Not to mention that Herobrines don't really- reproduce. Of course with exceptions, but the cases I know do it rather traditionally.
Your mother- (likely a brine all the same - as you describe yourself one too) Your mother produced children by spreading spores of some kind. Some parts of herself I guess. A power to mend into the elements and create another living being in such a way is baffling.
To get to the point and my actual question.
I've been pondering- spreading Herobrine offspring on such a wide scale (as you mentioned you had plenty of siblings) and seemingly not weakening herself if she could do that en mass. Maybe it's less of making more Brines from herself but something more akin to Brine-Spawns. (like vampire-spawns- a weaker kind of vampire sprung from a true one)
With that odd thought- you are the child of a Herobrine, but not a full brine yourself? Do you think that is kinda true?
Brines are such a rarity, your mother releasing tousands of offspring into the world and them being true Brines seems a little unreasonable.
Of course I may be mistaken as every elusive indivitual of a brine works different than the next. Maybe you and your "species" aren't actual brines by many a definition from each their own flaws.
Ah..... I've been talking a lot. What do you think about this whole- thing? Maybe you know more than I do. Probably.
#whoever you are this ask makes my day thanks for being a champ and i hope my answer does it justice!!#mcss#mcaskblog#herobrine#steven#sigma#lore#somewhat ooc?#SORRY FOR NERDING OUT THIS POST PROBABLY MAKES LITTLE SENSE BUT I FEEL SO STRONGLY ABOUT THIS THING#basically I have crazy imagination and i thought of all this lore that i didnt use because it's a little too... nonsensical#also the scope got way too big#and im not that invested to the story to dedicate my time and make a shonen comic outta it#plus Mother is a triggering character and i dont want this blog to get too depressing#so theres a lot of lore setups but no payoffs IM SO SORRY#but i think blog's already p lore biology heavy as it is so this is all yalls gonna get#before it gets even more confusing#Steven is an alien's kid!! congrats!! :D
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not a fan of people saying Odin and Loki are similar in a moral or decisive sense, particularly when it comes to Thor. that makes it sound like Loki doesn't know Thor or care about him beyond what he symbolises (regarding Asgard/the throne/family/worthiness), when that's a defining part of their relationship
#like i get WHY people go 'oh Thor is like Frigga (they careā¢/bring Emotions in) and Loki is like Odin (calculatingā¢ /For The Greater Good)'#but if you make such a clearcut comparison you neglect a lot of stuff that Odin and Loki do drastically different#like there are literal contrasts that are pretty evident around Thor particularly#like Odin does expect Thor to be some ideal version of himself that obeys Odin implicitly and doesn't have his own volatile emotions?#while Loki more sees that Thor isn't who he tries to pretend to be and generally encourages Thor to realize that#the most obvious parallel would be how they in TDW try telling Thor that Jane won't work out#and Odin goes for the whole 'well they're insignificant' angle despite Thor caring about the humans and Jane particularly#Odin tries to go 'here's Sif and since you shouldn't have your own preferences (they're wrong and bad) consider my choice'#he largely disregards Thor's emotions#most people do on Asgard????#like it's literally wild how everyone saw Thor being major depressed and they basically told him to pretend to cheer up#like im sorry Thor's grief means nothing to y;all. he fell in love with someone very mortal and his brother is changed forever#Loki tries putting Thor off by first off. Thor KNOWS Jane isn't going to live long he's not never thought about it#he doesn't even make the decision for Thor he tells him to consider his choice well bc it WILL hurt him when she's gone#Loki is like treats Thor like a person and Odin is like nah I own him#I feel like in converting the brother/father relationship difference over people lose the differences in those aspect#they skip to similarities of heartlessness and Machiavellian ends meeting the means when Loki overall is#a far more moral character than Thor (at the start of Thor's arc) and Odin. and a lot of culturally Asgardian ideas#that's literally part of Loki's original characterization that he DIDN'T match up with their views#he didn't do stuff like take killing lightly like it's for fun and that's one of a long list of obvious aspects that make the setup cool#don't tell me Odin and Loki are the same#like there's some blanket understanding that Loki doesn't show or care about the people he loves#while Thor and Frigga have always been softhearted and refused to sacrifice themselves for what is deemed better for everyone#don't mistake selfishness for apathy and don't say Loki didn't cry himself through the first movie because duty to the throne comes first#that's literally Thor's bit#idk
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Can every BG3 player being rude about other people's favorite / romanced companions please grow up? We are playing
āØļøBarbieāØļø šDress-Upš„¾ šDating-Simš (š”Murder Editionš¹)
and trying to have fun, not have strangers be shitty to us or our friends because we like different people.
#bg3#baldur's gate 3#I'm sorry for all of you having to deal with bs#I know the play stats exacerbated some issues#i hope you still have fun <3#that goes for fellow shadowheart lae'zel and karlach fans#along with those of you who like wyll and gale and astarion#i haven't done an evil playthrough so i know nothing about minthara sadly but her too!#and the 'side' companions too!#except halsin#that man has a concerning setup with the warthog (boar?) in the druid grove#jk idgaf if he's your thing yoy have fun too
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I hate it when I try to open Aseprite but my computer thinks I want to listen to /var/mnt/storage/Media/Games/Launchers/Steam/SteamLibrary/steamapps/common/Half-Life/valve/sound/scientist/asexpected.wav
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Arthur c clarke is rly convinced birth control is the sign of modernity and progression huh?
#i remember he pointed it out in childhoods end too#i also find the āand all the worlds major religions supported it and thought it was cool ^_^ā thing very funny#sorry to say mr clarke but uhhhh#anyway guess whos finally reading 2001#i rly like his prose and the way he sets up his stories; its interesting#iirc he did a similar thing in childhoods end where it had a prologue section that was set way before the events of the book#i wonder if 2001 is gonna have the same massive time jumps ce had <-has not watched the movie either#im going into this blindš#and then i can be all pretentious about how i read the book first (JOKING)#also apparently space odyssey is a series? but to my knowledge theres only the one movie#i will say#that beginning section is interesting when u read childhoods end first#bc the setup there is SO similar#but im pretty sure its not actually gonna go in that direction? despite setting that idea up harder than ce did#tbh not fully sure what to make of it with what i do know abt 2001#like. i was expecting this to be very different from childhoods end but so far its got a very similar feeling#so im wondering what the shift will be between aliens and ai#2001 liveblogging
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