#again apologies if this doesn't make sense

[witherby]

Does Jason hate punchline? Him being very uncaring makes sense and him reacting negatively does too but it makes me wonder if during or after rehabilitation he was make amends or try any sort of from of reaching out

Great question! The answer is kinda complicated.

Jason doesn't hate Punchline, he hates what she is. And what she is, is the biological byproduct of the man that destroyed his life and drove a near-insurmountable wedge between himself and his father.

In the beginning stages of Punchline being around, Jason doesn't see her as a separate person from Joker, but rather a little clone, a replica, and her behavior doesn't help with that. Her makeup is bone white and her lips are blood red. Her hair is toxic green. Her clothes are green and purple. Her laugh is just like his. Her jokes are just as cruel and almost-nonsensical. In every perceivable way, she is her dad, and Jason fucking hates her dad.

But his eyes work. His brain works. He can see that he's looking at and interacting with a little girl. The separation is there but the margin is paper thin. He hates, but he doesn't want to hurt. So when he suffers a flashback episode and comes to having found out he broke her arm, the guilt is more overwhelming than the hate. Jason recognizes very quickly that changes have to be made if he's going to be able to move forward given the situation.

It starts with supervised supervision. Jason is in charge of watching her and making sure she doesn't do anything dangerous, but someone else is in charge of watching Jason to make sure he keeps his cool.

It's baby steps. It's a muttered apology after being deemed okay enough to get near Punchline again without triggering another episode. It's stilted conversation that causes just as many steps backwards as forwards, because Punchline was raised by a man whose words were just as deadly as his actions and Jason is a victim of both. It's slow, and difficult, and exhausting work on his part, but he wants Punchline to rehabilitate. He wants her to find an identity outside of the Joker. He wants her to improve and he wants to help her do that.

They won't ever be friends. Not really. There's too much history for the both of them regarding their father. But they can be amenable. Companionable, even.

[epiphainie]

i agree with your tommy meta post but mannn, why would he take the risk when buck did nothing to show him he wants him or wanted him back?

edit: this post is tagged bucktommy so my moots who don't go here can avoid it. it's not a negative post about them at all but it's a rant post i wouldn't put in the tag otherwise.

i say this in my gentlest voice... that post's thesis is literally "tommy should do it ESPECIALLY if he's scared that buck doesn't feel the same"

on that topic, i'll actually take this ask to look at this from buck's pov because i see twenty posts in a row about "let's look at how tommy feels" as if that's literally not what we talk about with every single post, so like what did tommy do that's different to buck that buck is expected to know that tommy wants him or loves him?

"buck didn't tell him he was thinking about him" yes and what tommy said was he wanted to reach out for... what exactly? for all buck knows he wanted to clear the air or hook up, not that he's been pining for him or wanted a second chance. unfair reading for buck's ability to pick up what tommy obviously meant? i agree but not as unfair as the reading that tommy "doesn't know buck wanted a second chance" because buck only looked at him with hopeful eyes and brightened up like the sun when he said "you want to try again?" instead of "i want to try again too and i'm spelling this out to you in case you don't get it" because tommy is that in need of verbal confirmation, he can't know otherwise.

buck, on the other hand tho should've known that tommy would stay in the morning. like, "i thought you'd leave?" ouch, how hurtful is that for tommy? sure, makes sense as an interpretation when you wrap your right hand around your neck to reach for your left ear. it's not like buck's saying that because well, tommy dumped him the last time they saw each other. you know walked out of his life entirely, ended a relationship that for all it was fine and euphoric till that exact moment. a choice tommy himself made and kept making. but we can't let tommy have accountability for that because he dumped buck because he loved him so much, see. that frees him of the responsibility of this proactive, self-made decision.

and you know, seeing as buck mentions the heartbreak line back to him, it means buck has heard him, he's not unaware that tommy has/had strong feelings for him but tommy? tommy doesn't know as if buck didn't tell him similar things in the same scene. this is not even me being sarcastic about shitty biased interpretations at this point, it's literally me pointing out that tommy refused to hear buck when buck said he can see a future for them, only to come back and tell him that he also doesn't trust him to know how he feels about eddie.

so for all buck knows this is an ex boyfriend who left him, as suddenly offering a "you can settle for me now haha" which is not only incredibly patronizing with knowing-how-buck-feels-better-than-buck-himself but it's also neither an apology for how tommy's walked out the first time around nor a great display of his love or desire for a second chance. so what is buck supposed to feel when he looks at this? breakfast and champagne are nice but don't really make up for your ex repainting your entire relationship with a confession and then refusing to listen when you say no it wasn't like that. again, what about self-incriminating you can settle down for me now that competition is out of the way should be proof for buck that tommy's serious about their second chance. it's incredibly more hurtful to learn that your ex has never taken your feelings for him seriously during your entire relationship than hear "i dont have feelings for you anymore" and at least buck knows that was mean and wants to apologize for it. unlike tommy who's so bought into the chill and cool and fine guy that he can't even address their breakup, what he's done and how he felt, with a little bit of sincerity before going back to the snide and booking it out of there.

was the beginning of this interpretation a little uncharitable to tommy? yeah. because it was me being sarcastic about how people don't extend any grace or nuance to reading buck while filling every crevice of tommy. i get it. blank pages are funner to draw on, thats why people love queerbaiting and fanon ships more than canon rep most of the time, but at this point some people are so caught up in "this one word tommy uses here means that his mom left him when he was a baby so he can't show this particular emotion now" vs "buck didn't say this in the clearest way that'd acknowledge how he's hurt and victimized tommy and frankly that means he doesn't deserve him" that it sounds ridiculous. i dont even disagree with why tommy can't be sure about buck's feelings for him, not at all but, god, would it kill you to realize that tommy ended this relationship and has been running away from taking accountability for that action and his feelings at every turn and even when he tries, it comes out minimizing for both parties' feelings and their relationship. he's not a child, he's a man who's destined himself to this pattern, and i simply think that he needs to break out of it himself. i dont even know what buck could say to convince him otherwise anyway.

[twst-hottest-takes]

Rook being treated as a jerk by fandom for voting for RSA is unfair.

Now Rook as weird as he is has never intentionally hurt anyone and he is one of the kindest in NRC when treating other students. He is just honest with himself and the others. Like he also did hard work while training so it will only make sense he vote for NRC because he also put so much work and effort in winning this but he didn't because he is honest with himself.

he doesn't deserve being treated like a jerk for it I mean it's not like he even know he would be the the one that make a difference in votes. Like he is just one of many who votes for RSA.

This take shouldn't be considered as hot as it is.

I'll defend Rook on this until the end, but I get why people get so charged about this subject. I understand the feeling that he's a "traitor" to their group for not voting for his own team. The guys have every right to be hurt especially when they were so close to winning. But like you said, it's not like there weren't thousands of other votes and his made the ultimate difference any more than anyone else's. Rook didn't know that his casting his vote honestly would help tip the scale in RSA's favor.

Thank you for your take.

I also don't think Rook should have to apologize for what he did (though he does regret it). He was being true to himself and honest with the rest of the team and world. He didn't try to hide what he did in the slightest and owned up to it immediately saying that he deserved their ire for it. Later on, Vil admitted that NRC wasn't performing to the best of their ability because of the prior magic battle so he blames Rook less for it even though it stings his ego.

Honestly, under most circumstances I'd say that Rook had to be pretty brave to do what he did. Realistically, he probably didn't think too hard about his choice--for better or for worse--but going against the grain when you're going to a school full of troublemakers is pretty ballsy. Though again, this is Rook Hunt we're talking about and he's never been afraid to do blatanly dangerous things (like egging Malleus into playing tag), so maybe this turn of events shouldn't surprise us that much.

[sflow-er]

Including the tags by @andyouloveme:

#yeah for a show that has shuch fleshed out relationships it just felt so hollow?#and especially the sara wilhelm thing just re-enforced the impression that wilhelm doesn't really care about wider Simon's life that s3 gave#i think the writers must have thought that the settlement was the closure between the simon-august conflict but even if it was legally#wrapped up‚ it did nothing for their interpersonal relationship and conflict#strange choice given how prominent a plot line it was in s1#also the 4 of them driving off into the sunset and two of them have only had single line between them??? that just feels underdeveloped

by @realredbanana:

#this is once again reminding me that i wish that sara and wille and august and simon had more interactions#especially sara and wille!!#(like. with simon and august. even just a few more interactions that led to some semblance of closure for simon wouldve been nice#but i wouldve loved an initially awkward sara & wille friendship#especially given how complicated everyone close to hims relationships with her were at the time#and. based on wille saying about how august ‘just had to destroy/ruin another [family]’ in the gun range scene in 2.05#it kinda seems like he holds august largely responsible for what went down between her august and simon#and itd be interesting seeing him. i guess. acknowledging her agency whilst also acknowledging her desire to make it right?)

And Blue's comments from the replies:

Some really good discussion here!

I've written before about how the lack of apology from August to Simon feels less like an intentional, character-defining writing choice and more like a mishap overlooking or even retconning the August-Simon conflict (as the director is indeed on the record saying "of course" August would apologise to Simon). I don't feel like repeating all my points from that post, but the gist of it is that the writers failed to convey their authorial intent for him. I wholeheartedly agree with everyone above that the conflict needed proper closure.

As for Wilhelm and Sara... This is just my opinion and I may well be wrong, but I think Wille's disinterest in Sara may be more of a Doylist reading than a Watsonian one. Like, I don't think there is meant to be quite that much distance between them in the world of the show.

Back in S1, it was realistic that they never talked in or outside of class, but they sat at the same table at the Parents' Day luncheon. It's very possible they interacted between the scenes we saw (Wille was on his best princely behaviour and making small talk around the table). Also, I doubt Simon never said anything about his sister when Wilmon interacted off-screen - or Linda about her daughter when they presumably had dinner after Wilmon's "gaming session."

In S2, Wille was definitely too deep in his own head to listen when Felice presumably talked about her other friends, but he must have interacted with Sara directly. They worked on the book report together for at least a couple of weeks, after all.

It also seems realistic for both Simon and Felice to have talked to Wille about Sara's betrayal in between the seasons. He comes across as sympathetic when they talk about her in 3.01, and I don't think it's meant to be his first time ever hearing their feelings. When we finally do see him ask Sara about Simon in the finale, he does it quite casually, and as Blue said above, there is also a friendly vibe between them when he gets in her car at the end.

I actually think it makes sense for them not to be close yet. There was very little overlap between Wilmon being together and Simon & Felice being on good terms with Sara, so there weren't that many opportunities to show them getting to know each other (aside from the potential off-screen interactions I outlined above). Similarly, Wille and August made up so late that there wasn't much space to show Wille acknowledging the nuances of Sargust's relationship and Sara's agency in it - although I fully agree with Blue that an honest conversation between them could have been great storytelling if S3 had been written differently.

But based on the finale, I do think they are meant to be casually acquainted already, and Wille is meant to have heard stuff about Sara from Simon and Felice. It's just that the writers completely failed to show that for some reason - and unwittingly made it seem like a meaningful omission when they cut the only line between the two in 2.06.

To be honest, I suspect the lack of Wille-Sara interaction may have even become a bit of an inside joke in the writers' room after S2, when the fandom noticed it and started speculating on S3. That would explain their decision to just put one very casual line in the finale. If there was never a good reason to withhold that interaction and the fans' expectations were always going to be let down, maybe they thought it would be funny to circumvent them instead.

If so, the joke didn't really work for me, especially when Wille was written as rather self-absorbed in S3. There's a lot of reason to interpret him as disinterested in getting to know Sara; I'm just not sure if that was actually meant to be the case.

My reheated s3 take is that August not getting a scene to apologize to Simon and Wilhelm not getting a scene to build a relationship with Sara (beyond exchanging one line) are letdowns in a way that feel deeply interrelated to me.

To be clear: my intention is not to draw a false equivalence between the harm August does to Simon in releasing the video, and Wilhelm’s failure to build a relationship with his boyfriend’s sibling. Instead, I’m struck by how the show tells us that Wilhelm/Simon and Sara/August are both important, formative first loves. The writers also emphasize Sara and Simon’s bond, especially in terms of how they need one another to navigate Micke’s abandonment of them, and likewise stress the need for Wilhelm and August to grieve Erik’s death together. Therefore, it makes sense to close the loop on the Wilhelm-Sara and August-Simon undercurrents running through the series, especially when Simon and August’s conflicts drove a lot of season one and Sara and Wilhelm’s arcs were so paralleled early on.

Maybe I’m biased? As much as I enjoy characters who will move mountains for their love interests, I fall ten times harder for a character who will engage significantly with a third character who means a lot to their love interest. Jane Austen rocks this trope, honestly. I wish we’d seen it play out a little more in Young Royals.

TANGENT: This trope certainly guided heliza and I’s writing when we started Heart and Homeland. In our fic Wilhelm deliberately tries to make sure he learns things about Sara and wins her over because he cares for Simon so much, and he ends up forming a queerplatonic bond with Sara in the process. I’m so invested in their relationship, honestly! Meanwhile, August’s near-reform followed by a dramatic fall from grace (into villainy, even, because I do write a decent villain August if I say so myself) hinges on a vow he makes to Sara—one where he’ll patch things up with Simon—that he later breaks. And much earlier in the story, August does save Simon’s life while Simon’s in the process of saving Wilhelm’s, something that Sara witnesses and remembers.

Anyway, not everything needs to be like my fic. I know I’m being a little ridiculous here. Cough END TANGENT.

At the same time, it was truly surprising to me that the writers of YRS3 didn’t pull on those Sara-Wilhelm or August-Simon threads more. Especially since the creators are on record as saying they assumed the audience would assume that August would apologize to Simon and attempt to repair his harm someday. And based on Sara’s reaction to Wilhelm in the car, I guess we’re also supposed to assume they’ll be friendly and develop a deeper bond someday.

Sometimes it feels like there was meant to be more on the August-Simon and Sara-Wilhelm fronts though. There’s little hints here and there in earlier seasons. Wilhelm being a former rider when Sara loves horses. The fact that the production team cut a line from Wilhelm to Sara in the s2 field scene (the only line that they’d really exchanged thus far) as if they were saving their interaction for something big in s3. The time when August defends Simon against Vincent after the whole rowing team drama. The fact that August has a father with addiction issues in common with the Eriksson siblings. Like. Were there storylines or sequences of dialogue that got cut? What’s the behind the scenes story there?

I specifically wanted to talk about this as an issue of the choices the writers made, rather than an issue of what good or evil innately lurks in a character’s heart. Again, the writers assumed the audience would know that August has become the kind of person who will apologize to Simon and repair the harm he did. Malte talks about August’s growth in interviews—not overstating it, but being honest about how the character’s changed. And I can see plenty writing choices that support that idea of August’s growth! I think there’s a lot that fanwriters can play with and expand upon! Yet those writing choices are undermined by the writers’ choice to not close the loop on August and Simon’s earlier conflicts, and differentiate those as separate from August and Wilhelm’s conflicts. I personally tend to see this as a reflection of the writers’ failure-to-communicate rather than a reflection of the eternal evil of August’s corrupted soul or whatever, and approach my fanfic accordingly. Yet I still see some analyses argue that he’s “canonically�� a villain and… it just doesn’t quite mesh with what I’m seeing from the show.

Meanwhile, maybe it’s just me who has this arbitrary goalpost that Wilhelm should have had more meaningful interaction with Sara beyond the one line they exchange and her car being his getaway. But it still feels like their s3 interaction was meant to be more significant? Sara is the beloved-then-estranged sibling of the guy Wilhelm is in love with, she is the cried-over-and-missed other best friend of Wilhelm’s best friend, she is the girl who turned Wilhelm’s jerkass playboy cousin into a puddle of vulnerable enamored goo. She is Fröken Ramirez’s favorite Lucia FFS! (Okay the last one was me being silly, but you know.) If I were Wilhelm, I might be more curious about Sara, especially after she returns to school again and is ostracized by the school population at large. And maybe Wilhelm isn’t meant to be curious about Sara, but that still feels like a thread that got dropped given how it felt like Sara and Wilhelm were deliberately kept apart in earlier seasons. (Has anyone asked the writers about this? Does anyone know the official response? I’m dying to know, now.)

Anyway, this isn’t meant to be a “fuck the writers! fuck season 3 forever!” post because I genuinely did like some of the character arcs and some of the choices and I should probably rewatch season 3 over my upcoming time-away-from-work so I can post about that. But the dropped threads re: Sara-Wilhelm and Simon-August are what I ended up thinking about this morning. I really cared about how those relationships were gonna play out.

There’s a whole other post I could make about Felice but that’s for another day. Perhaps after a rewatch!

[stressfulsloth]

Thinking about Harry and all the animal parallels that follow him through the narrative. It's true that these animal parallels reflect the way that the brutality of individualist moralism strips him of humanity as someone who has fallen through the safety nets, and his agonised shout of 'I don't want to be this kind of animal anymore' can be interpreted as a direct admission of the RCM's dehumanisation of him as a disabled addict who is no longer as 'useful' as he once was. Gottlieb even directly tells him '[he] lost [his] human visage a while back.' Jean calls him 'the most dangerous animal of them all'. The rabid dog that needs to be put down, the black dog (also a common metaphor for chronic mental illness!) that Mollins shoots as it licks its wounds; the scared, hurt, frightened animal lashing out, chewing off it's own leg to escape the trap that it's caught in. The wild dog is all they can see.

But then there is a flipside to these parallels too; a kindness, a gentleness, almost a freedom in Harry’s animal parallels. He's strong like a 'goddamn ox,' like a bear ('I had to kill the bear to become the bear'). He's a harrier hawk, a name given to ensure his safety, raised up to the level of the aerostatics looking down over Revachol, 'soar[ing] on the wings of [his] spirit hawk.' He's a leopard ('its impossible to know where you end and the leopard begins'), discovering or rediscovering a love of softness and sensuality that he'd not known before via the leopard print leotard that 'speaks to the animal inside [him]' and touches on his relationship with his gender ('Yes, this is the type of animal I want to be.').

He's a 'seagull', a bird that will do 'whatever it takes to survive,' a 'bird of paradise' that tells a story of 'endurance- and adaptation' ('You! You and the seagull are just alike!'). He survives, despite everything, despite the grimness of the world around him. He endures. Even the sea monster comparison is oddly kind ('You've become a sea monster -- giant, hidden and... strangely tender at heart'). Even as a monster, he's still gentle; he still has so much love for this world that has wrung every last bit out of him. As if his tenderness is such an inherent part of him that no matter what monstrous face he wears, no matter what creature is there in his shadow, he cannot help but have some trace of it at his core. His tender soul 'quivering like jello.' The pain he feels is raw and animal but so is the love he feels. So is the hope and the fear and the wonder.

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

Do you think if the trolls all came back, like everything in the main comic did happen and they were alive again. Do you think Feferi would actually forgive Eridan? Or want to even be his friend after everything? I don't personally like the erisol and fefertasprite interaction…felt rushed…..so I just wanted to know your opinion if things were different! :)

Yeah, I think they would be! Feferi is one of the trolls who takes dying the least badly (relentless optimism) and Eridan does genuinely feel bad, which means a lot when it's Eridan. I think she really is genuine when she says she wants them to be friends and also that she's really not the type of person to hold a grudge, and like... death is SUPER cheap in Homestuck, it's really not the horrific, irredeemable, irreperable damage that it is IRL - and if you're talking about (Feferi) and (Eridan), then they're both dead (and irrelevent) now, so the score is kind of even.

In general, the fandom - I mean, people in general, really - tend to have difficulty divorcing themselves from other people. We tend to assume that the people and characters they like will hold similar opinions to themselves. This is how people who like Karkat and don't like Eridan can mentally gloss over or even block out their clear, close friendship, or how people who dislike Cronus can end up overlooking that Meenah actually takes his opinion seriously and unironically defends his wizard thing. Feferi really isn't mad at Eridan or upset about dying the way we probably would be, because she's friends with the horrorterrors, relentlessly cheerful, comfortable with death in general, and death is also just not really that big of a deal in this setting. "I'm really sorry about that, that was shitty of me" is honestly probably all the apology she needs, especially if they came back to life anyway.

[greennoobartist]

Glad to hear that, cuz im not holding back lmao

*recollecting 2am thoughts... Please wait.... We apologize for the long wait, this was done with pure dedication and throughout considertion and passion.... It was done with some time and sleep sacrifice too..... We hope you enjoy :)*

Okay so!

In the beginning of the manga, i mentioned this earlier and yes im saying it again, his whole face was more lively, especially his eyes

What im trying to say is that, by looking at him, it's not that hard to read him.

I realized that (idk how to name this english isn't my native, sorries if it doesn't make sense) but, his pupils were bigger and he had a circle of light reflection in the corner of his eyes in the beginning of the manga

His cockiness didn't falter, his eyes matched his mood, specifically his pupils with the white circle of light reflection, and his classic, either crossing his arms or placing one hand on his hip.

Now (if you're a weirdo like me lolol) , you'll notice that the only times that was happening, and that the three pictures above, are from chapter one and chapter two. No later. Now... The main question... How and why? Even Himekawa Sensei said SARCASTIC! Where's his sarcasm? (I mean it doesn't appear much, but you get the point!)

Now, this is something that might probably rise an argument, but I like arguments so yeah :3

Take a look at this page as a whole

Wait, why this page? And why now online version instead of digging for the og one?

Well, i do have sone tidbits of the og one, but this translation better supports my point.

Basically, what's the main discussion of this page? The names, right? Well, yeah! Right! The main point of this page was Blue's frustration over the nicknames.... But that's the point! The main point distracted us (me?) from a minor point that shows a tiny detail in dialogue... For which, i actually need both versions... And the dialogue detail im talking bout is this one:

(Left: original/printed; Right: online version)

What's so special about Blue having anger issues? It happened many times? Well, hehheh, here's something I discovered from my own experience

Himekawa sensei said that he's a contrary person, huh? Well, where's that contrary now when he's getting insulted in the face? (But literally) Well, let my lovely "fucked up experience with the people from my home country" provide some explanation.

First, what did Vio do on this page? Easy! He was being his cool and cocky self! And what happened? He got insulted and kinda scolded... Have you ever been yelled at for being your true self? I hope you did not, but I certainly did..... And it's painful! To say the least!

When I first got scolded for being a sarcastic and silly self i am by my own family (i don't remember which member exactly and even if i do i don't feel like calling them out) , it hit hard deep inside. I was just being myself and you're yelling at me? What am I supposed to do then? You don't like me the way i am? What should I do then?..... Not be myself around you anymore?.... Were my first thoughts after the conflict, which resulted into the fake front i hold now! I am not being myself with my own family bcuz they don't seem to appreciate me the way i am.... Okay, okay! How does this make any sense with the topic?..... Well..... It just happened to Vio... And he did the same thing.... Think about it!

When was the last time you saw Vio and Blue have a chat? When was the last time you saw Vio not holding a distance between him and Blue? And most importantly, when was the last time you saw Vio be himself around Blue?

The actual last time he was his cocky self was around his very best friend, Shadow! When he was with him, with someone who appreciates him the way he is, he didn't care what Blue will say, and that's why he was cocky in that chapter.

Now, to wrap this up and not get too lost in the topic....

What I am trying to say is that... He was losing his personality around ppl, putting up a fake front that everyone started to mistake for his true self... That must hurt, deep inside... And right when he thought he made a bestie that appreciates him the way he is, he has to betray him.... That must've hurt even more, and with such amount of emotional and mental hurts and scars, he lost himself... His eyes were becoming empty, just as his hope for being appreciated and accepted... His eyes reflected the pain and exhaustion of what he was going through in the story....

His eyes were reflecting his soul

...

....

But ofc, this is just a theory! A Vio theory! Thanks for reading! :D (Mattpat reference lmfao)

I often keep returning to this post and am like

How where why when!?! WHYYYY!!!?!?!

Yeah guys im back at this topic lmao you can't blame me XD

It's like so interesting to me that his eyes changed sm and like.... It's interesting to me that it's in this way exactly... Like from lively and cheerful to dreary and empty...

I could return to this topic forever cuz it doesn't leave my mind so easily, even when I doodle him I'm like "buddy... Can I give some life in your eyes??"

I also noticed that by how the story progresses, the emptier his eyes are.... But you know what ALSO is fading away by progress!?! ✨HIS COCKINESS✨

Few days ago, @/blupeeblep (i don't wanna tag ya i think you might be asleep so i don't wanna bother you buddy and I might be a bit annoying with talking bout the same topic again🥺🫶) and I discussed how we both forget how cocky he is in this post, and idk for y'all, but me and blep forget about it and im like.... I think I know why....

I have a theory that he has trust issues and possible traumas that resulted into him having a poker face and often being expressionless and stoic... A fake front, what one could call...

This theory literally rose from my own past experiences so now I have a lot to cover and yeah, this actually rose from my lovely "fucked up experience with ppl in my home country" :)

If anyone's interested in details and isn't afraid of some of my Vio yapping, feel free to let me know and blep you're #1 welcome guest i just didn't tag ya cuz you might be asleep since in my timezone it's literally almost midnight so yeah :3

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

if dorian didn't show up, do you think louis would have shot minnie?

I do. I know some people think either he wouldn't have or he would've missed so that's why the writers had him shoot Dorian instead, but mmmmmm no, I don't personally think so. I like to think that if he had taken the shot, his shaky hands would've caused him to shoot her fatally.

Mostly because I'm already so normal about the fact that of the Ericson crew, Marlon and Louis are the only ones with a body count. Well, that we know of, but shown to us in the game, at least. Plus, we know it's Louis' first kill.

Like yeah, Clementine and AJ become part of the crew and they have bigger body counts, and if we're counting indirect kills caused by actions, then Tenn has a count... and I guess everyone has blood on their hands for blowing up the boat... but I'm talking about killed directly with a weapon like....... I lied, I'm not normal about that at all, Louis and Marlon are the ones who have killed someone in Louis' route. I'm also not normal about the fact that Louis kills Dorian and then even as he's clearly in shock, he tries to go with Clementine to get AJ, and then later on when they talk about it, he says it feels like bile but not quite and he's glad he has it in him to do it.... listen, listen, listen... I'm obsessed with that.

Anyway, so if Louis shot Minerva, I think he would've accidentally killed her and can you imagine? He's already enough of a mess after killing the woman who pinned him down and tried to cut his finger off [or succeeded] but he knew Minerva, they were friends before the twins were taken. Even Violet couldn't kill her even though that would've been the smarter thing to do, and we know thanks to meta knowledge that killing her would've saved lives, but Violet couldn't, and I don't think Louis would intentionally either.

Speaking of Violet, if Louis killed Minerva, I hate to think about what that would've done to Vi. I think she might've actually left at that point, like what was planned before it got changed to her being burned. I don't think she would've attacked Louis over it, though, like yeah she attacked Clementine in the cell but Louis? I don't know, but I don't think so just because it's Louis and he'd be a mess about it anyway.

Though if he did kill her, it would be a neat parallel to draw... y'know, because Louis forgave AJ for killing Marlon even though he was pissed and heartbroken, and Violet was annoyed with him the entire time... but could she ever forgive Louis for killing Minerva? Y'know? We already have a similar parallel with AJ shooting Tenn, but still.

If Clementine killed Minerva in that moment, though, then I could see Violet attacking her since in her eyes, Clem proved her right.

So yeah, I get why they added the Dorian kill to his route. It adds another compelling element to Louis as a character, but we also need Minerva alive for episode 4; Louis can't kill her, he can't miss, and he's not going to stay with her because we need Violet to stay on the boat and him to be on shore for all routes.

[wutheringmights]

New CTB Music (2024 Update)

It's that time of year where I share some of the tracks that I added to my personal CTB playlist that have not been mentioned before on this blog (view (2021, 2022, and 2023 updates as well).

Body to Flame - Lucy Dacus 

Longing for your short hair to grow back to the way you like Thank you for the gesture I regret ever implying that you could be better Didn't mean to empty your perfect body And fill it with my passing will

Hate Me - Miley Cyrus

Go ahead, you can say that I've changed Just say it to my face One drink and I'm back to that place The memories won't fade

Is It Over Now? - Taylor Swift

"Come here, " I whispered in your ear In your dream as you passed out, baby Was it over then? And is it over now?

Halloween - Noah Kahan

But the wreckage of you, I no longer reside in And the bridges have long since been burned The ash of the home that I started the fire in It starts to return to the Earth I'm leavin' this town and I'm changin' my address I know that you'll come if you want It's not Halloween, but the ghost you're dressed up as Sure knows how to haunt, yeah, she knows how to haunt

Growing Sideways - Noah Kahan

But I ignore things, and I move sideways Until I forget what I felt in the first place At the end of the day I know there are worse ways To stay alive 'Cause everyone's growing and everyone's healthy I'm terrified that I might never have met me

Orange Juice - Noah Kahan

You said my heart has changed and my soul has changed And my heart, and my heart That my life has changed, that this town had changed And you had not That the world has changed, don't you find it strange That you just went ahead and carried on?

I Remember Everything - Zach Bryan

Strained words come on out Of a grown man's mouth when his mind's broke Pictures and passin' time You only smile like that when you're drinking

Figure 8 - Paramore

All for your sake Became the very thing that I hate I lost my way Spinning in an endless figure eight

Let You Down - Zach Bryan & Kacey Musgraves

I'll let you down darlin', down babe Just like I did before You'll just keep on slammin' closed hollow unlocked doors I'll let you down darlin', down babe Just like times before You'll just keep on crawin' back and beggin' me for more

No One Else to Blame - Madison Cunningham

For the burden and the stress For the heartache and the mess you entertain You put your money down on which part of you is next To slip down the drain with nothing, nowhere and no one No one else to blame

Golden Age - Ethel Cain 

Do you just want my blood? Am I just that damn hard to love? 'Cause it feels like all I have is still just not enough I guess that I'll just go outside and watch the fire And fields of gold fly farther away from me

Dawns - Zach Bryan & Maggie Rogers

Give me my dawns back Everything that dies makes its way back I lost her last July in a heart attack I need one small victory

Crave - Paramore

I romanticize even the worst of times When all it took to make me cry was being alive Look up and see a reflection Of someone who never gave way to the pain What if I told 'em that now that I'm older There isn't a moment that I'd wanna change?

Your Hate Could Power a Train - Madison Cunningham

I'm not messin' around, not ready to laugh about it I don't worship the ground that's holdin' you I think it's wrong, the way you harm But no one ever looks too hard at it What does it say about you? Your hate could power a train

Head In the Wall - Ethel Cain

Sometimes you make wanna put my fucking head through the wall Sometimes I wonder if I even know you at all

thousand eyes - FKA Twigs 

If I walk out the door, it starts our last goodbye If you don't pull me back, it wakes a thousand eyes

teenage dream - Olivia Rodrigo 

They all say that it gets better, it gets better the more you grow Yeah, they all say that it gets better, it gets better, but what if I don't?

You First - Paramore 

Everyone is a bad guy And there's no way, no way to know Who's the worst Karma's gonna come for all of us And I hope, well, I hope, I just hope She comes, comes for you first, oh

Vampire Smile - Kyla La Grange

I want a scar that looks just like you, 'Til then I gotta learn to be a wiser fool.

[the-mang0tree]

My boi you cannot keep dropping such incredible/interesting transformers AUs and expect me not to get invested in them

I need more lore on all of them and i need them NOW!!!

IM SORRY LMAO 😭😭 i get crazy inspired by songs

i can tell u abt this last one, but there's not much, the idea popped to my head this morning lol 😭

everyone's shocked by op's death, because it was at the hands of an autobot !! not megan, not a decepticon, but a trusted bot. peace talks were ready to take place, but they almost didn't happen bc of it, since the bots thought the cons had brainwashed that mech into offlining oppy

im thinking megs and op weren't ever really close, not even before the war, like they were just figureheads of their own factions that opposed each other, they were never friends. so op dies, megs is very obviously shocked and angry like everyone else, since they're accusing Her faction of something they didn't do

one day he finds op on his room, looking all blue and transparent and snooping around. after triple checking with soundwave (+ some deep contemplation about possibly hitting his head recently) he accepts that his fate is being annoyed to death by his ex-enemy (they become friends eventually, hurray)

some Loong time later, peace is achieved, she doesn't step up to become leader like everyone said she would, and instead aims to just try to live a normal life. except literally Everyone is scared of him to some degree, he obviously has no friends (that are alive) and frankly it's making him depressed and angry that he can't go to the store without everyone running away (even if it was kinda funny at the beginning). so oppy decides to start teaching him to be nice and to start trusting others, it's safe to say megs is not a great student but is at least trying

[fallloverfic]

Really tired of people calling FG by the one name that makes zero sense in context, is alienating to a lot of people, and is actually the single figure Mojito has confirmed he's not. Are people just unaware of one of the more popular hairstyles/looks for guys with long(ish) brown(ish) hair and beards/beard stubble in (and out of) media?

People/characters listed left to right, starting with the top:

Row 1: Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes in Captain America: The Winter Soldier; François Arnaud as Cesare Borgia in The Borgias; David Wenham as Faramir in The Lord of the Rings; Oded Fehr as Ardeth Bay in The Mummy Returns; Jason Carter as Marcus Cole in Babylon 5

Row 2: Kevin Sorbo as Hercules in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys; Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; "Foreign God" in ENNEAD Season 1, Episde 65; "Foreign God" in ENNEAD Season 2, Episode 10; Robin Atkin Downes; Hugh Jackman as Van Helsing in Van Helsing

Row 3: Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars; Hades in Blood of Zeus, James Watson as Duncan Idaho in Dune (2000); Gale in Baldur's Gate 3; Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings

Row 4: Mark Ryder as Cesare Borgia in Borgia; Jason Momoa; Nigel Terry as King Arthur in Excalibur; Christian Kane as Eliot Spencer in Leverage; Jared Padalecki

Like I could keep adding people and characters to this because this style is so damn common (I was honestly tempted to make a second collage, bare minimum). But I'd be here forever. There are a number of other fan names for the unnamed foreign god, including Foreign God, FG, Beard, Mustache, or you could go with what Seth calls him, "Furball".

[linagram]

[ 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚝-𝚝𝟸 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚖𝚊 #𝟶𝟷 ] 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚗𝚘 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎

the second trial is getting closer and closer to its end. it's time for miki to finally meet jackalope, learn more about how this place works and who she's going to work with in the next season.

(also she has her hair down now!)

(the door opens)

Miki: *sighs*

Miki: Well, uh..

Miki: I guess it's over.

Miki: ...

Miki: It's.. kinda lonely now.

(sound of Miki sitting down on her bed)

Miki: This is so..

Miki: *starts crying*

Miki: This is not.. fair.. 

Miki: Eiji-san.. had worked so hard.. 

Miki: A-and now..

Miki: H-he'll be fine, right? I mean, we don't have anyone who can treat him, b-but..

Miki: I-I asked Chiba-san, but she's not a doctor, she's just the oldest one here..

Miki: A-and I can only d-do first aid stuff..

Miki: T-thankfully, it's just a broken arm, it could've been much worse..

Miki: But still..

Miki: .. Why is Eiji-san the only guard that the prisoners can touch?

Jackalope: Good question.

Miki: *SCREAMS*

Jackalope: Okay, before you try to hit me with anything-

Miki: WHO ARE YOU?! 

Miki: Or.. uh..

Miki: WHAT ARE YOU?!

Miki: "I.. I knew there was something wrong with this place, but I didn't expect to see this rabbit thing-"

Miki: ...

Miki: .. Rabbit thing?

Jackalope: Here we go again.

Jackalope: Oh-

Miki: Are you the rabbit that Hiyuu-san mentioned?!

Jackalope: S-stop shaking me-

Jackalope: .. Hiyuu?

Miki: Uh.. You know..

Miki: The third guard.

Miki: Wait, why am I even having a conversation with you? How can you even talk?!

Jackalope: Let's talk about that later.

Miki: I literally want to know why we can talk like this!

(sound of Jackalope jumping down on the bed)

Jackalope: Anyway. 

Jackalope: So, you're Miki, right? 

Jackalope: Yeah, you're definitely the cutest one out of all the guards we have this time.

Miki: .. How many guards do you have exactly?

Jackalope: Eh, there was supposed to be one more, but he couldn't handle the pressure, so..

Miki: .. What do you mean by that?

Jackalope: Actually, maybe I should explain how exactly we chose the guards this time. I don't think anything bad will happen if you learn more about this.

Jackalope: Also, I just trust you more than that Eiji guy. There is a reason why you're the "goddess of this place" after all, haha.

Miki: B-but what happened to the fourth guard-

Jackalope: So, you have probably already noticed that there's some kind of pattern if you think more about the connection you and Eiji have with other prisoners.

Jackalope: Two prisoners in particular. 

Miki: .. Eiji-san and Kei-san are brothers. Me and Asahi-san are siblings.

Jackalope: Exactly. So, why do you think we decided that we should choose the prisoners' siblings as the guards?

Miki: .. No idea. 

Jackalope: Well, you might be thinking that we did it out of some kind of sadistic urge to make you two judge your own siblings, however, Eiji hates Kei and would love to see him die.. or at least that's what he says, and it took you some time to remember that Marito is actually your brother.

Miki: How do you know his-

Jackalope: It isn't actually that entertaining, especially if we consider how you two tend to vote everyone. Eiji would still vote Kei guilty no matter what and you would do the opposite with Marito and forgive him every single time.

Jackalope: Also, this is just.. tasteless to me. What we need is actual judgement, even if it's based only on the prisoners' looks, and not your connections and relationships and how much you will cry when it's time to vote them guilty.

Jackalope: Though you have to agree that you have.. certain relationship dynamics with some of them. I bet it's getting harder to make decisions because of them.

Miki: So.. Why did you go for the prisoners' siblings?

Jackalope: The answer is simple, really.

Jackalope: Because it was easier.

Miki: .. Huh?

Jackalope: Think about it. What, you think we just found you all in a minute?

Jackalope: Yes, this prison might work in some mysterious ways that are impossible for someone like you to understand, but we had to find ten murderers who live in completely different cities and towns, wait for the right moment to send them here, make sure their family, friends and loved ones didn't find out and we also needed to find guards to judge them. Not one guard, but more, because this time we needed to see how the trial would go with people who have completely different morals.

Jackalope: So, then we found out more information about everyone's family members, we learned about you and Eiji, and we were like..

Jackalope: We need to put these two in the same room and see how it will play out.

Jackalope: But we still needed more than two guards because there was a possibility of you two refusing to work together and we didn't want a 50/50 result, so..

Miki: What is a "50/50 result"?

Jackalope: So yeah, we just decided that it will be easier to choose the prisoners' siblings as the guards because we wouldn't have to think too hard about it.

Miki: ...

Miki: U-um, sir, I don't know your name..

Jackalope: Oh, right, please forgive me for not introducing myself earlier, haha. Call me Jackalope-

Miki: A-anyway, sir, that's kind of lame.

Jackalope: Huh.

Miki: I AM SO SORRY, PLEASE PRETEND YOU HAVEN'T HEARD THAT!

Jackalope: No, no, I want you to elaborate.

Miki: Well.. I thought that there would be more thought put into.. 

Miki: You know.. All of this.

Jackalope: But we did put a lot of thought into it! 

Jackalope: For example, we've even chosen-

Jackalope: .. Ahem. I did agree to tell you about the siblings part, but I have to stop myself here. You're lucky that you're cute and it's hard to say no to you.

Miki: "I just wanted to learn more about the fourth guard.."

Miki: S-so, the fourth guard is-

Jackalope: We actually weren't sure if we should make you and Eiji the prisoners or Kei and Asahi.

Miki: ... What?

Jackalope: Or, you know, Kei and you, Eiji and Asahi, whatever.

Miki: W-what? Why?

Miki: W-why would you have a problem with making that choice?

Jackalope: Well, I think you already know the answer.

Jackalope: I mean, you all are murderers in some way.

Miki: ...

(sound of Miki falling on the floor)

Jackalope: Aw, don't look so sad. You already knew that-

Miki: But I.. But.. 

Miki: B-but Marito is alive! He's here! I didn't kill him!

Miki: I still think I'm a terrible sister and he deserves someone better than me, but..

Jackalope: Oh, Miki, you know I'm talking about someone else.

Miki: ...

Jackalope: We both know that Marito wasn't your victim.

Miki: ...

Miki: Well, Eiji-san can't be a murderer. He's too good for that.

Jackalope: "Good"? *laughs* You're way too pure for someone like him.

Jackalope: You seriously think a normal guy would have so much fun punishing everyone? And would be so experienced with coming up with ways to torture people?

Miki: E-even if he did kill someone, I'm sure he had a reason-

Jackalope: And so what? He's still a murderer.

Jackalope: You are a murderer. He is a murderer. The prisoners are murderers too. 

Jackalope: Milgram doesn't care about how you guys did it and why. You all had something to do with someone's death. Whether it was a direct murder, whether it was driving someone to suicide, whether it was causing someone's death by inaction, whether it was an accident, whether it was self-defense, this prison doesn't care.

Miki: .. But this isn't how a normal prison works. This isn't how normal trials work.

Jackalope: And you already know this place is anything but normal.

Miki: .. Is Hiyuu-san also a murderer?

Jackalope: Hm.. Kind of, but not really. Though he is partially responsible for someone.. almost dying.

Jackalope: And because of you and Eiji being more.. direct, we made you two wake up first.

Jackalope: Actually, if we count the fourth one, he was the one who woke up first, but.. There was a reason for that.

Miki:"We weren't the ones who woke up first?!"

Jackalope: There also was another reason why we went for the siblings, but this one.. Yeah, I'm not going to talk about it much.

Jackalope: So let's just say, it would be easier for us to make some.. changes to the trial.

Miki: "Changes"?

Jackalope: Well, for example..

Jackalope: If you keep asking more questions, maybe one day you will be the one waking up in a prison cell and waiting for your brother to judge you.

Miki: B-but you were the one who decided to tell me all this!..

Miki: Wait..

Miki: What.. does this all mean?

Miki: Actually, who are "we"?

Miki: You're wearing what looks like a guard uniform.. But I don't think you're one of the guards..

Jackalope: Haha, no, I'm not the fourth guard-

Miki: THEN WHO ARE YOU?!

Miki: WHO ARE ALL OF YOU?!

Miki: WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL THIS? WHY ARE WE HERE?

Miki: JUST ANSWER ALREADY OR I WILL K-

Miki: ...

Jackalope: See? You all are murderers. Simple as that.

Jackalope: Oh, right, it's time for you two to properly meet each other.

Jackalope: I know you two have already met in person..

Jackalope: Even though I had told him not to leave his room..

Jackalope: Anyway, meet the third guard of the Milgram prison: Kuroki Hinode!

(the door opens)

(sounds of Hinode's steps)

Hinode: I really could just use a screen for this, but it'd be very rude..

Hinode: Hello, Miki-san. It's very nice to meet you again like this.

***

Jackalope: So, how are you doing?

(silence)

Jackalope: Not good, huh? Understandable.

Jackalope: But hey, at least it was Yurika who broke your arm. I can't imagine how you'd react if it was Kei.

(silence)

Jackalope: Well, I doubt you'll be able to participate in the voting process this time. 

Jackalope: Anyway, see you-

Eiji: .. Judge..

Jackalope: Hm?

Eiji: I still.. 

Eiji: Need to judge them..

Jackalope: Hey, I admire your diligence, but we already have a guard with health problems, so-

Eiji: Well, what else do you expect me to do?!

Eiji: I'm not just gonna lie here!

Eiji: If I can't judge them, WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?!

Eiji: I FINALLY KNOW WHAT I WAS BORN TO DO! I KNOW WHAT THE PURPOSE OF MY LIFE IS!

Eiji: JUST LET ME DO MY JOB ALREADY!

Eiji: !

Eiji: .. It hurts..

Jackalope: *sighs* I really wish you could be more obedient. Why can't you just follow the others' example?

Eiji: .. Did you do something to me?

Jackalope: Huh?

Eiji: Nobody can touch Miki. But they can touch me perfectly fine. 

Eiji: And if I remember correctly, this started to happen only when the second trial began.

Eiji: So.. Again, did you do something to me?

Jackalope: .. Seriously, why do you remember our first meeting so well?

Jackalope: Now, where was that thing.. 

Jackalope: Right. Anyway, you'll forget everything in like five minutes, so I can just say it to you right now.

Jackalope: Eiji, I mean this in the nicest way possible. 

Jackalope: Your punishments are creative. I really wish I could see you punish more prisoners after the first trial.

Jackalope: But no, there wasn't even any fight between you and Miki. You've just let her save like seven prisoners.

Jackalope: So, uh.. You don't really make a good guard.

Jackalope: And you didn't give us the result we wanted, so..

Jackalope: Yeah, this is your punishment.

Eiji: ...

Jackalope: Anyway, have a nice dream.

[thehealingsystem]

gonna reveal myself as a fake mcr fan danger days I'm not much of a fan of I haven't ever read killjoys and I don't listen to gerard way's music

[handsomethrowrug]

I've been thinking about the art I reblogged earlier. It's been in my drafts for weeks because of how important I deem it to be, but I wanted to wait until I felt I had time to actually write about it.

At the end of the day, K.ovu's legacy is wild to think about. He was raised to be an heir, the so-called 'chosen one' of the tyrant king. It's so much a part of who he is, it's literally his name. There's this looming shadow over him, and the expectation that he's going to grow up and take S.imba's place as king.

But... From the little that's seen, I get the impression that K.ovu knows barely anything about S.car, which is odd when you consider Z.ira's, well, her everything.

K.ovu knows he looks like S.car, but not necessarily how much. He was praised for his intelligence, but might not know any other instances outside of S.car's cruelty. He clearly doesn't hold the dead lion in high praise despite it all, and is quick to change his mind once someone actually talks about S.car.

All of this is not even considering the crux of the matter: what S.car actually thought of K.ovu. Was he actually the chosen one? Was a positive comment made about how hearty the newly born cub looked? On this blog, I do have it that he did consider K.ovu being the 'face' of the throne, but there wasn't much time to allow him to observe all the cubs and make a proper decision or put his plans into motion. We know from the musical that S.car did desire an heir, but it seems unlikely that he would favour a cub that wasn't his ("Immortality will be mine!"). Without any sort of flashback, and with the first movie made without any consideration for a sequel, we can only take Z.ira's word. Personally, it's not the most reliable, and so we'll never actually know whether she speaks the truth, or whether she seized the opportunity with a visually similar cub to grasp at power, since we know for a fact that K.ovu is not S.car's.

Perhaps, ultimately, it's a distorted version of S.imba and M.ufasa, where a path ahead is set on the cub's 'destiny'... But the difference is that one had the opportunity to learn what precisely that path was from the king in question.

After all, an heir doesn't choose his destiny when assigned to follow in the par-prints of those who came before them. An heir is told to follow the status quo and uphold particular ideals, because these are what is considered 'normal' in their upbringing.

[certainwill]

my gousotsu brainrot came back and is driving me up the wall...

the POTENTIAL is SO GOOD but whenever I think about the things I don't like about it I'm like. arrrrgh. pulling my hair out... i'm in love with what it could've been, but the knowledge that it's all just my headcanons i love and not the actual reality of what was intended just makes me so sad sometimes...

[ceramicbeetle]

i can't find the post now so maybe i've made it up entirely, who's to say, but i feel like i remember seeing a post about saccharina saying that she expects too much for the rest of the Rocks to treat her like family, but now that i'm actually watching the season, dude, she says multiple times that she doesn't care if they treat her like Family, she really just wants them to be decent to her and they refuse to even grant her that much